Bachelor King 9: Like brother, like brother
by creativeKing95
Summary: Robert has now reached pre-adolescence, and has to cope with new emotions and his changing point-of-view. But Spiny will also be affected as he tries to protect him. But at what cost will this come to both?
1. Chapter 1

I've mentioned before that being a teenager and head of my family is difficult, right? I mean, being a head of family is hard enough. But when you're a teenager and you have to do it on your own…well it's a great challenge. You have a lot of insecurities, you're barely discovering who you are and who you want to become.

And a lot of times, you don't make good judgements. And you don't think things through. And a lot of times, when you think you're doing what's best for your family, it turns out that it really wasn't the best thing for you to do.

I have to go through all this. On top of all that, my second-youngest brother, Robert, has just become a preteen. He turned twelve on April 19 and is about to graduate from upper 5th grade into middle school.

Robert is not a kid who's given me a whole lot of trouble. He's your typical 12-year-old boy. He likes soccer, volleyball, tennis, rock pop, and just hanging out with his friends from school. But, I also knew that now that he had become a pre-teenager, things were going to be extremely different now. And a whole lot more challenging.

But I never knew how difficult it would be for me. And I never knew that I would have to go through a lot of embarrassment and suffering to learn some important lessons.

It all started on Saturday, May 30, 2015.

I was in my room; doing…I don't know what. I guess you just call it reading. Yeah, I was reading. I was in the middle of concentration when Larry came walking in, "Oh, Spiny-poo! Where are you? Oh, there you are."

"What's up?" I said.

"There's a beautiful brown-eyed girl at the Palace Gates who wants to see you. She identifies herself as Lilia Woods." Now, that really got my attention. I got and instinctively went to wash my face and comb my hair. I was just about to run out of the room, when I stopped. "Wait a minute! This isn't one of your practical jokes, right?"

"No."

"Because if it is, I'll kill you."

"You'd have to get ready for that."

Was he threatening me? "You and what army?"

You won't believe what the nut did. You know how Larry can do pretty much anything, right? And that includes every single super-power in existence. So what did he do? He multiplied himself by a hundred. That's the time to say, Oh no.

Once Larry turns into a thousand Larrys, then you have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. You get beaten up, punched, kicked, bitten, slapped, scratched, etc. And that's exactly what happened to me. You don't know how much damage a thousand Larrys can cause to your body.

It took me about two hours to make myself presentable, just to give you an idea of how much damage all those Larrys caused. When I finally got outside to go see Lilia, she wasn't there anymore. I stepped out of the Gates and looked in both directions. Nobody was there. Great!

Larry had done that to me on purpose, knowing that Lilia would eventually go home. I was SO going to let him have it! I was about to leave, when a voice said, "Spiny, wait!" I turned around and…there she was. Running from her house. She ran up to me…and threw her arms around me and kissed me so hard that I almost fell backwards.

I put my arms around her and swung her around a few times, returning the kiss. "Hey," I said.

"Hi, how are you?" she said, smiling so beautifully.

"Fine and you?"

"Doing great." We stepped apart, holding hands. "I was just wondering if you were going to do anything this weekend."

"I don't know. Why?" I asked.

"Well, I had a fun idea for a weekend date."

I couldn't help smiling. I love this girl so much! And I love spending any time with her, even two minutes. She is so much fun! "What was it?"

"How about stargazing?"

I could feel my heart pounding. I could just see both of us, lying side by side on the grass, looking up at the starry heavens, holding hands. What could be better? "I'd love to! I'll call you later and tell you if I can make it."

She smiled. "Okay. I'll see you, then?"

I nodded. "Of course you will." I kissed her and it made both of us blush, just like the first time. Just like every time. But I enjoyed it.

"Oh, and I have something for you," I said.

"Oh, Spiny. I don't want you wasting money on me," she said, in an almost punishing me-tone of voice.

"I didn't waste any money. And besides, you're more worth than all the gold and money in the world. You're unique. You're my angel."

She giggled. "Oh, Spiny."

"I wrote you a poem," I said, taking out a piece of paper. "Want to hear it?"

She nodded.

"Okay. Here goes. It's called, Young Love. And it says:

You say you love me

You say you care

But when you look into my eyes

I see and feel something more

I see your soul and you see mine

I feel your love, love words can't describe

You are the one, the one I'll always love

And the one that will always care... my first love."

I looked at her and said, "You like it?"

She had tears in her eyes, but I could tell that she was genuinely happy. She pulled me into a hug, and put her head on my chest. I hugged her back, and caressed her silky brown hair. "I love you," she whispered.

I felt my face burning and butterflies in my stomach, just like every time she said those words to me. "I love you, too," I whispered back.

I wanted to stay like that with her forever. I could've for all I knew. Then she stepped back and kissed me goodbye, before leaving back to her house, with my poem. I stood there, staring at her house, lost in deep thoughts, when out of nowhere Larry popped out. "Hey, Spiny."

"What?"

"We need some action."

"Action? What do you mean?"

"Let's go get ice cream at Arnold's."

"All right."

We walked down the street until we got to the restaurant. Since school was almost out, there were a lot of kids there. By kids, I mean teenagers. We both walked in, and sat at our usual booth. "Waiter! Hello, waiter! Anybody back there!" Larry yelled.

At that moment, a young waiter who was in his early 20s came out. He must've been, oh 22. But get this: he was shorter than me. I'm about 5-foot, 11 ½ inches tall. Anyways, he said, "Yes, sir?"

"I'd like Double-Dip-Dip-Chocolate-Vanilla-Wafer ice cream."

"Coming right up!" He called back to the kitchen. "Get me one DDCVW! On the double!" In less than the blink of an eye, Larry had his ice cream in front of him. "That'll be $1."

"One dollar?! What kind of prices are these? I didn't even order whipped cream! But, I guess it's worth it." He started eating his ice cream, while the waiter turned to me.

"I'll have a Dark-and-Milk Chocolate Combo with the Root Beer syrup and Black Cherry/Cranberry sauce on top. And with whipped cream."

"All right. One Chocolate Combo, coming up!"

"Um, bad choice of words," I said.

"What then? Going down?" Larry said.

I kicked him from under the table. He kicked me back. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Why'd you hit me?" he said.

"Look, Larry don't start that again." The waiter came with my order. "For you, sir, that'll be 20 cents."

Larry almost choked on his ice cream. "Twenty cents?!"

"Pays to be a King," I said simply. I started drinking the ice cream and ohh! It was so good! Too bad it's not available in any other country on Earth. "Hey, this is good."

"You're right," said Larry. I hadn't realized that he was drinking out of my cup, too. "Hey! Get your nose out of there!"

"It wasn't my nose. It was my straw."

"Mind your own business, will you?"

"All right, all right, chill."

We continued eating our delicious, world-famous ice cream when guess who came into the restaurant?

One of our best friends and a good citizen.


	2. Chapter 2

If you guessed Roger, then you're right.

"Hey, look, it's Roger," Larry said.

"Hey, guys," he said to us. He walked over to where we were sitting. "What you doing?"

Before I could answer, Larry said, "Oh, just here with goofy-kid gangs."

"LARRY!"

"Just kidding!"

"So, how's it going, Roge?" I said.

"Roge?" said Larry.

"Roge is the nickname for Roger, isn't it?"

After a quiet minute, he responded, "I've heard worse ones."

Roger just laughed and sat down next to Larry, and reached into his pocket. He took out $20.

And an old sourball.

"I think I'll have something too. Just a good, old-fashioned hot fudge sundae."

"Yeah, just be careful with the cherry, especially if you get a black cherry," I said.

"The cherry? Why?"

Larry started making weird noises and said, "It is poi-sou-nous. Ooooo!"

"Shut up!" Then I said to Roger, "No, but Larry will try to steal it so he can stick it into your ear and cover the wax with peanut butter."

Roger made a sour face and said, "Gross!"

"Yeah, well, that's Larry for you."

"In that case," said Larry. He yelled for the waiter.

"Yes, sir?"

"We want a bowl full of cherries."

"You want a bowl full of cherries?"

"Yes."

"Then go plant yourself a cherry tree. We serve ice cream, not cherries."

In a loud, enraged voice, Larry said, "THIS PLACE ALWAYS STINKED!"

Now, you may be thinking that it isn't wise to yell that a waiter at a restaurant, right? Well, it is a bad thing to do, but you don't know Larry. He got the waiter really mad. You could tell by his eyes. "What did you say?"

"I said this place always stinked anyway!"

"Uh, Larry…" That idiot was going to get himself into a big mess.

"Oh, really?" the waiter said.

"Yes, I always hated this place!" he said.

"Larry!" I yelled louder.

"Well, then, I have just the right thing for you. Something that will satisfy your reptilian appetite perfectly."

"Oh, yeah?"

"LARRY!" I yelled even louder.

"Yes, I do," the waiter continued. "It is…this!" In less than a split second, he came out with a can of whipped cream. But in miracle time, Larry used the Telekinesis Power to split the whipped cream in half and banged the lights out of the waiter.

It was a living miracle that no one saw it. And it was a great coincidence that Roger had decided to get under the table to get out of the line of a fire. Or whipped cream, actually.

After a little while, the waiter got up and walked away as if nothing. How could he just be like that?! I stared at Larry, astounded. "I erased that part of his memory," he whispered.

Oh. That made sense. A little. Trouble is, nothing about Larry ever makes sense. You can't tell the difference between when he's acting crazy and when he's acting normal.

Roger came out from the bunker and went back to his sundae.

"So, Roger, how's your ice cream?"

"It's good."

You know what the goofball did then? He took out a straw and started drinking from Roger's sundae! "It is good!"

"Um, uh…thank you?"

I don't blame Roger.

I mean Larry can be so…forget it.

Anyways, finally, Mr. Ice Cream Crook went back to his own bowl. "Hey, where's my cherry!"

"You ate it already," I said.

"Oh. Well, it's a good thing I always bring my extra whipped cream along with me." He took out a bottle of it, and started spraying it on his half-melted, half-gooey ice cream. Roger and I just stared at each other. Then at him. And at each other. Then back at him.

Finally I said. "Look, Larry, I know this is probably a very stupid question, but why do you have your own whipped cream along with you?"

"Because I don't trust their whipped cream!"

"Same thing!"

"You never know how old it is, Spiny," said Roger. "I was reading it on the Internet the other day."

Oh. Great! "Oh, for goodness' sake! This is Amarkia! All of our food is safe. And just about everybody is very trustworthy."

Roger sighed and shook his head. "I only wish that was true, Spiny. But, sadly, I found out you can't trust anybody."

Yeah, I just found that out, Benedict Arnold! "Would you trust me?" said Larry.

"Um, yeah," said Roger. Uh-oh. That was a mistake.

"Even for keeping secrets?"

"I guess so." Oh, no. Especially for that. Do not trust Larry to keep secrets. But Roger learned it the hard way. Larry shouted at the top of his lungs, "HEY, EVERYBODY, ROGER LIKES DARLA!" The whole restaurant erupted into laughter, pointing, whispering, teasing, oohs, and nasty smiles.

Roger was so embarrassed that not only did his face turn red, but his voice got squeaky. But, Larry, as always was unconcerned with his self-satisfaction smile. "I had to teach you a lesson."

"What kind of lesson is that?" Roger squeaked.

"The most painful yet effective," I muttered.

"Why did you say that, you idiot?!" Roger said to Larry.

I quickly got up and dragged Larry into the boys' restroom. I locked the door behind us and gave him a killer look. "What kind of social monster are you?!"

"What are you talking about?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "You just ruined Roger's life, that's what I'm talking about!"

"What did I do?"

"What did…ugh! Don't you have any common sense?"

"What's common about it?"

I was getting nowhere talking it out with him. And I certainly wasn't going to try to fight him in any way because he always beats me at everything. "Oh, never mind that. Let's just go home. It's almost dinner time."

"But we just ate!"

"Why don't you just shut up and do what I say for once in your life?"

Larry crossed his arms. "Spiny! When have I ever done something that you don't like?"

When has he…oh, please. I had to be dreaming what he just said. "Oh, no, NEVER! Just every single minute of every day of my dinosaurian life!"

He looked annoyed. "Well, thanks a lot."

I was about to leave before his disease known as Stupidity was passed on to me. But just then, the lights turned out. "Hey, what happened?!"

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" Larry said.

"Ha. I bet you five bucks that Arnold didn't pay the electric bill."

"Yeah, well, you better start getting the money."

"What? Why?"

Larry stepped out. "Uh-oh."

I went in behind him. "What-oh?"

"Everyone's gone and the place is closed."

"What? You mean to tell me that we're locked in a restaurant after closing hours?!"

"Well, either that or the building is alive and locked us in and locked everyone else out."

I slapped him on the back of his head. "Sit on it, Larry!"

He rubbed his head and started wandering around in the dark. He sighed. "Boy, do I feel sorry for Roger."

"For Roger? You feel sorry for him. You wouldn't be as half-sorry if he was the one locked in a restaurant."

He shrugged. "Well, there's only thing left to do."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to call Kathy to see if she can get us out of here." I got out my phone and…hey! Some idiot had erased everything on it! Who would…all my games and music and apps and contacts and photos and videos and… "Larry!"

I caught him just before he ran into the kitchen. "Larry. How do you explain this?" I held up the phone up to his face, the light blue glow reflecting the clear guilt in his face.

"How do I explain that?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's a small portable device known as a cellular phone. It's something that which you call other people on with using electrical signals on cellular towers. They are modern-day versions of the field telephones used in World War II and the two-way radios that police use. And, also…"

"All right, smart-aleck. I'll deal with you later. Now, I have to find a way to get out of here."

"Why don't we just unlock the door and get out?"

"Because I don't have a key, you dodo!"

"Oh, that explains why we're still here. Well, then. There's only one option left."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"Bust out of here."

"HUH? You mean, like, break a window or something?"

Larry smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "My dear friend, I couldn't have said it better myself." He looked around and grabbed a napkin holder. He swung his arm back and launched it. "No, wait!"

Too late. _CRASH!_ Little pieces of solidified sand everywhere. That's what glass is, by the way. Anyways, the jerk that I was with broke one of the…well, windows, obviously. What else would he…never mind.

Larry walked over to the empty space in the wall, which used to be a window. "Careful, don't step on the glass."

"Oh, really? Gee, I never thought of that!" I said sarcastically. I mean, who did he take me as, as a fool or something?

"Let's just get out here before they start sending out the entire army to look for you."

What a way to spend an evening, don't you think? But things were about to get a whole lot more exciting.


	3. Chapter 3

It's a great wonder that no one saw us breaking out of _Arnold's_. If someone had seen us, they would have jumped to conclusions and…well, let's just say things would've turned out not-to-pretty for yours truly.

Well, it was sunset when managed to break out. And Dumbhead Larry managed to restore my iPhone 15 as it had been. Yes, it's version 15, and that's all I will say about it.

Anyways, we managed to get out of there without too much trouble, but don't think we got home right away. We would've been in home in time for dinner, but guess who couldn't resist pranking me? Yep, good old, Jokesaurus.

You know what he did to TIV. He let the air out of four of the ten tires, he emptied the radiator out of water, and he stole the spark plugs, tore out the radio, and put in half of the seats backwards.

What kind of twisted mind would do that? What kind of maniac? Larry, that's who, who won't hesitate in ruining our lives whenever opportunity knocks.

So, as you can expect, I got home by dark. Took me about two and a half hours to fix the mess that he'd made. And he just stood there, with his self-satisfaction smile and beady little eyes.

Well, important thing is that I got home alive. It's a good thing he hadn't replaced the turpentine with gasoline. He's capable of doing that, you know. You don't know Larry until you've lived with him for thousands of years. Seemed more like a zillion years. And believe me, even for us Amarkians that is still a long time.

Anyways, we got home. It was about 8:58. Man, was I tired. I've always like to turn in early, you know. I'm not one of those teenagers who stays up until midnight or later. Nah, plus I need my sleep for all busy work that I have to do.

We both stepped inside, trying to cause as little noise as possible, when I heard a familiar voice say, "Spiny."

I looked into the living room, and saw a little figure running towards me. "Greeny?! What are you doing up? It's past your bedtime!"

"Um, what time is it?" Larry asked.

"It's nine o'clock sharp."

"What's his bedtime, 6 pm or something?"

"Very funny! It happens to be eight o'clock."

"What is that, bedtime or a curfew?"

"Mind your own business!"

"Eesh! All right. No need to be sensitive about it."

This guy's a stubborn nut! How in the world did he end up being my best friend? Well, by the way we get along and he treats me, I'd sure hate to think what he do if he was enemy.

I turned back to my 6-year-old brother. "Greeny, you know that you're not supposed to be up."

You know what he did then? He sat down.

"No, what I mean is, that you're supposed to be in your room."

"Oh, that old place?"

"Greeny, got to your bed."

"But, but…"

"Go to sleep!"

"But…"

"Greeny!"

"Oh, all right." He trudged back upstairs. I sighed. "Kids. You know how six-year-olds are."

"Boy, do I!" Larry responded.

I turned to him and grinned. "Believe me, you have no idea what it is to have to raise one of those. You don't have to feed him, care for him, teach him, set an example…"

"I don't have to? You mean I can act like a big jerk?"

I leaned over to him and whispered. "You don't have to act."

"Aw, thanks!" See? You see what I mean? I can't even be sarcastic with him, because he deliberately ignores it and comes up with an answer with his own. He definitely should never be a comedian.

I went in the kitchen and got milk and cookies while Larry turned the TV on. "I'm going to see if the Late Show is on."

"That won't be until almost midnight."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I'm going to see what's on."

I came back in the living room and plopped down on the sofa. "Check the TV listings in the newspaper."

He was about to grab the paper when the door opened. "I'll call you tomorrow," we heard a girl's voice saying. Larry looked at me. "Patty had a date tonight."

"Oh."

Patty closed the door behind her and hung up her coat. I saw no reason for her taking a coat…but I guess it must've served some purpose in the romantic mood of the date.

Patty turned around and saw us in the living room. "Oh, hi." She walked in and smiled at us. "What you guys doing?"

"Oh, nothing, we're just here waiting for our reservation on that fantastic trip to Pluto," Larry said.

I elbowed him, trying to hold in the laughter. "Larry, stop that. Patty probably had more important things to do."

"Yeah, like smooching. Just the thought of it makes me want to puke."

Patty's face turned bitter quickly. "You are so immature!" And she turned around and walked up to her room. "We're so mean, right?" I said to Larry.

"Yeah, but it sure is a lot of fun!" he laughed.

"Sure is!"

Well, there wasn't anything interesting on TV, so we went up to our room to hit the sack. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, flossed, got into my pajamas. I'll tell you this much: it's not something weird, childish, or creepy, so don't start getting ideas.

Anyways, when I got out of my bathroom, Larry was already snoring away a long line of Z's. That's a lazybag for you. I got into bed and wrote a journal entry for that. No, it's not something girly. Many great men in history kept journals. Like, uh…like…like…well, I can't think of any now. It's because I'm thinking too hard. But believe me, there were great men who kept journals at some point in their life. And plus, it's a great way to let your emotions and thoughts out and it keeps you prepared for writing essays.

"Hey, Spiny."

"What?"

"I have confession to make."

Huh? Larry has a confession to make? Was I hearing right or was I dreaming? I turned my head slowly to look at him. "You have a confession to make?"

"Yeah."

"What did you do?"

"You mean, what I didn't do."

"Okay. What didn't you do?"

"I don't spy on the girls at school from the girls' restroom, or hide in the gym during their aerobics class."

I dropped my pencil and just stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"What for?"

"Do you mean to tell me that after the painful experience I went through months ago didn't even serve you a little bit?!"

"Well, you know…"

"Yeah, I know. You have a way with teen girls that would probably shock Rudolph Valentino or Cary Grant or William Levy."

"Well, I don't mean to offend you. I mean, I know how popular you are with the female population of our age, but believe me, it's better to be a repellant than an attractant."

"Attractant? Is that even a word?"

"It is if I use it."

Well, Mr. Weber decided to write a new dictionary, huh? Well, for all I cared, he could eat his vocabulary along with apples and worms. I ignored him and turned out the lights. I didn't have to argue with that brickhead.

I was about to close my eyes when the door knocked. "Who is it?"

"Me!" said Greeny's voice. "I'm thirsty!"

"Go in the kitchen and get a drink of water!"

"But I'm too tired!"

"Then get water from your bathroom."

"But Robert's using it!"

"Then wait for him to come out."

"But I have to use the bathroom!"

"Then just wait! Do jumping jacks!"

Silence. Finally. What does it take to get some peace and quiet around here? A whole lot, I'll say that. I turned to Larry. He had his head buried in his pillow and his tail was slowly swinging back and forth. "Hey, Larry?"

"Hmm?"

"Tell me something. How is it that I can manage to be a King, a head of family, and a teenager?"

"I have no idea, but I do know something."

"What is it?"

"Kathy's not in the house."


	4. Chapter 4

"What? How do you know?"

"I can sense it. I sense her absence. I'm going to call the National Police right now. Do you think it's a good idea?" he said, jumping out of his bed and dialing in the desk phone.

"Yeah, it's a good idea, but there's something you should know first."  
"What's that?" he was about to dial the last number.

"Kathy's out on a date."

He froze just before he finished dialing. He looked up at me. "What?"

"She has a date and her curfew is midnight."

He dropped the phone. "Nyah! What kind of curfew is that?!"

"A very fair one, and close your mouth before it turns into Fly City."

"Um…listen, Spiny. You know how much I care for your emotional and mental well-being, right?"

I sat up. Something told me I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. "Well, that's impossible to believe in words in itself, but I think with some convincing I would believe it myself. Why do say that?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Well…did you give Robert permission to go out anywhere?"

"No. Why?"

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. And I mean, really! They nearly popped out. "Oh, nothing. Just asking!"

Well, if that's all he…wait, why did he ask about… "Wait a minute! Why do you ask that? Is Robert here too?"

"Uh, no he's not."

"HE'S NOT!" My eyes nearly popped out. I jumped out of my bed, standing straight up. "He's not in the Palace!?"

"Um…no. My Teleport-Vision Power tells me that he's…playing video games at a new arcade in town." What?! Robert had sneaked out and…how do you like that?!

I stood up and went to my closet and threw some clothes at Larry. "You and I are going to make a little visit to that arcade right now."

"Good idea. Think we should go?"

"Of course! He's my 12-year-old brother!"

"Yeah and we should hurry. With my Biological Power, I see a horrible change in him."

I had a pretty good idea of what he meant, so I said, "What do you expect? He's a preteen now."

"Yeah, welcome to hel…well, more like the gates of hel-ow! Why did you pinch me?"

"You know very well that cursing and swearing is not permitted in this family!"

"Well…would it help if I used my Matter Power to change his form into an inanimate object or to swell his ankle in order to incapacitate him?"

"NO!"

"Just a suggestion."

"Well…we have to do something, quick!"

"Yeah, let's turn into a gas!"

"I said we have to do something quick, not something empty-headed."

"Well, thank you, Poncho."

I didn't hesitate. I finished getting dressed and dragged him by tail out the room, down the hallway, down the stairs and out the front door into the night. "Larry, we have to go."

"Yeah, let's go back ho-Ooo! Why do you keep pinching me?"

"Why do you keep saying stupidities?"

"Why do…you got me on that one. Okay, let's go." He walked over to TIV.

"Hey, wait a minute!" I yelled. "We can't drive over there."

"Why not?"

"Well, because everybody knows that I drive in TIV. I don't want Robert to know that I'm there. We have to be more inconspicuous."

"You mean, walk?"

"No, I mean swim. Of course I mean walk! How far is that arcade place? Is it the new one that's about three miles down the road? Where they also made a new bowling alley?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"It's not a long walk. Now come on. Let's go already!"

"All right." We both walked out of the Palace Gates and went down the street. It took about ten minutes to get there. Surprisingly, for a new place that had just opened, it was kind of empty. Just a few kids and employees.

Larry and I got out of the car and stepped in, trying to be unnoticeable. We sneaked behind some people checking in. If anyone recognized me, this whole thing would turn into a disaster. "Where's Robert?" I whispered.

Larry looked around and pointed straight ahead. "Over there. He's playing pool with those kids."

Huh? Robert playing pool?! He didn't even know how to play. Larry must've been reading my thoughts with his Mind-Reading Power, because he said, "He's doing surprisingly good. Not to mention the not-to-bad looking girls."

That really made me jump. I looked closer. I only saw one girl. She seemed to be Robert's age. She had long golden-blonde hair and was staring at Robert so hard that she could have turned him into stone.

"And she's also breaking the National Dress Code," Larry mentioned.

That was also true. For such a young girl, she was wearing stuff that should be illegal even for 29-year-olds. Never mind the details. Anyways, I said to Larry, "We have to sneak up and see what's happening without anyone noticing."

"Why don't we just stand there at the door?"

I stared at the fool in front of me. "Well, if you don't me saying so, Mr. Perry Mason, I had a more practical idea."

And so with that, ten minutes later, we came out of the restroom in our disguises. Dark suits and sunglasses.

"Waiter! Get us two large root beers!" Larry yelled as we sat a desk not too far from the pool table. But he ignored us, and instead took our order to the group of kids who were playing. They didn't say thank you or even tip him. Just gulped it down and smashed the bottles against the other side of the room. Of course, the waiter wasn't jumping up and down of joy.

"You kids are going to clean up this mess, you hear?"

"Sure, sure," said a hotshot kid who seemed to think he was Bill Gates and Justin Bieber at the same time. Then, without warning, another kid, who seemed to be of high school age, with red hair and green eyes, grabbed the waiter by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up four feet. "Where's your janitor?"

"He's…he took in sick," the waiter choked out.

"Then let him clean up this mess." He threw the waiter back on the ground. Then, a big tough-looking guy came out. He was a Dilophosaurus. (In real life, they are about 20 feet long and are not poisonous and don't have frills like in Jurassic Park.) "You don't clean, you're not leaving."

As if on cue, the two tough kids ran for the doors, but they closed and locked. Then the guy in charge said, "Play pool all night if you wish, but you're not leaving until this place is clean as a mirror."

Robert stood up and said, "Don't worry, sir, we'll clean it up." Well, it was a relief to hear that my brother was the voice of reason and maturity in this group of goofballs and jerks.

Anyways, finally, the waiter came through with our root beers and apologized for taking so long. "Don't worry, kid. It happens to the best," said Larry, handing him a $20 bill. "Keep the change."

I looked to my left, where the pool table was no more than five feet away. We had to think of some way to get their attention without asking for it. I had an idea. "Larry."

"What?"

"Throw a penny over to them."

"What?!"

"Just do it."

He grabbed a penny and threw it in the direction of the pool table. But, somehow, it ended up in my throat.


	5. Chapter 5

You may think that if a guy accidentally swallows a penny, he's got nothing to worry about, right? I mean, a penny is really small, right? WRONG. You try swallowing a whole penny! I tell you, it's like swallowing four peanuts at once.

Naturally, I started choking and coughing and wheezing and gasping for breath. And even though Larry tried it get it out by kicking my back and slapping my face, it took a waiter tripping over and pushing me off my seat to get the stupid coin out.

As I climbed back into the chair and stood straight up, still panting, I said to Larry, "What's Robert doing now?"

"Sweating."

I turned around and looked. I couldn't see anything. Stupid sunglasses!

"Take a shower, will you, slowpoke," said a kid.

"Shut up," Robert yelled.

"Something tells me that they're rival groups here," said Larry. Then, I had one more idea. The kind of idea that the great minds in history would be proud of. "Let's pretend that we want in on the game."

"You mean…play pool with them?"

"No, I mean, play Tea Party. Of course I mean pool!"

"All right." We both stood up and started walking towards them. One of the guys on the opposing team said, "I'll show how this is done!" He should've kept his mouth shut, cause he ended up pushing the 8-ball into the basket. All he said was, "Oh, snap!"

"I guess we got here just in time," I said with a slight accent. I don't even know what kind of accent I used. I just made it up.

Then, one of them said, "What. You're late!" Sheesh, talk about good manners.

All differences set aside, fifteen minutes later, we were in another round and of course Larry did something stupid. He ordered a cherry coke in a tall glass with three ice cubes…and a curly straw! Can you believe it? Not only that, he ordered tutti frutti chewing gum!

I could've murdered him! But apparently I wasn't the only one. "Tutti frutti chewing gum?" said the opposing team leader. "What do you watch, _Dora_?"

But I'll say this much. NO ONE pushes my friends around, even if they are incredibly stupid and are big jerks. I slammed my hand on the pool table and said, "Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

I was about to leave him ripped into 27 individual pieces when Robert passed by, and he managed to trip and get root beer all over Larry. "Chill out and wipe it off," I said, snickering. Ah, revenge may be evil, but when it comes to Larry he knows how to do it perfectly.

Anyways, back to the game. "You think you can beat us this time?" said one of the the guys on the opposing team. "You can bet it on if you want to."

I carefully took the…the…the stick that you play pool with. Never mind how it's called. "I just might take that bet," someone said. "In fact, I might even take $200's worth of collectible antique cars."

I looked around to see what idiot had…HUH? Did I say that?

Uh-oh. "I'm surprised you're a gambler," said the team leader.

"Well, I, uh, I never gamble or bet on money. Just on other items. But never on money."

Boy was I relieved when he didn't say any more about. But I just about a heart attack when he said, "Robert, how much booze did you bring this time?"

My heart stopped cold and I lost my breath. "What?" Robert asked.

"How much booze did you bring?" I started getting dizzy. I was hoping that I wouldn't faint at that moment.

"Um…fourteen coupons for one-liter cups of hot chocolate."

Hot chocolate?! Was that what they called booze? I really do believe that I was one step away from fainting. Just in case, I pulled up a chair and sat near the table. Then, he said to Robert, "Here, I need you to take some things from the warehouse."

He handed him a list. "What? You mean steal?"

"How else do you want it? You don't expect me to give you money to buy it. That is so old-fashioned, Robby boy. We live in 2015 now! Times have really changed."

I looked at Larry. I leaned closer to him. "I don't like this, Larry."

"Neither do I."

"I think we should do something."

He cleared his throat and said, "I have a full charged Taser ready in my pocket."

"Um…couldn't you do something a little less drastic?"

"Well….I have a fully-loaded gun if that's what you mean."

I stared at him as if he had just answered the easiest question in the world wrong. "That's not what I had in mind."

"Hey, I'm the one who is an expert in these matters."

"Yeah, well, this is my brother we're talking about!"

Before he could answer, Robert said it was my turn. It was a good thing he still didn't recognize me. A few minutes later, Rob shot a near perfect score. I mean, he missed getting the 8-ball in by just a centimeter. I mean, the ball swayed back and forth on the edge. "Hey, what fantastic luck!" said someone.

Rob said, "I don't use luck, like others do. Luck is a superstition. I prefer to use intelligence and strategy."

"Don't you start getting religious on me!" said the team leader, walking up to Robert and grabbing the collar of his shirt. But before Larry or I could do anything, the girl on Robert's team pushed him away. "Leave him alone!"

She grabbed Robert by the arm and sat him next to her. She didn't take her hand off of his arm.

"Insinuating. Very insinuating." That was Larry whispering in my ear.

I looked at him. "I can take care of this, thank you." I stood up and walked over to Rob and what's-her-name. "Um, listen, could you please go somewhere for a minute. I need a word with this young man."

Believe me, it wasn't easy trying to sound like and adult, knowing that my voice could crack at any moment.

But she said, "Whatever you say, handsome." After she stood up and left, I sat beside Robert. I nudged him, and took off my sunglasses. He almost screamed, but I put my hand over his mouth. He looked as he had just seen a white shark open its jaws.

He quickly looked in all directions. "What are you doing here?" he whispered.

I put back my sunglasses on and looked around casually. "Why weren't you home when you were supposed to?"

"How did you know?"

"That doesn't matter now. I'll deal with you later, Robert Kyverná. But for now, I'll try to get you outta here alive. You stressed?"

"No." But I could tell he was. He was sweating and shaking all over.

I hadn't noticed that a great discussion was occurring over at the table. Larry and the other team leader were both arguing over something. Then, Larry slammed his fist against the table. Then things got really bad. The other guy threw a glass cup full of root beer at him. He duck just in time.

One of the adult supervisors there said, "Hey! You're going to clean that up! I'm warning you kids!"

The team leader made a face at him and said, "Why don't you mind your own business?!"

That really got me riled up. I stood up quickly and pinned the guy down against the table. "Why don't you learn to respect your elders?!"

I wasn't ready when he kicked me in the shin and threw me to the ground. "Why don't you keep out of my way?!" I was so angry I could've…never mind.

But violence never solved anything. So I decided to beat this spoiled rat at his own game. I got up and dusted my trousers. "I'll get in whoever's way I please. And I challenge you to a game. One-on-one. Just you and me."

He sneered. "All right. You got yourself a deal."

I sneered at him…well, at least I tried to. "I'll go easy on you."

 _Gulp!_

I sure hoped I knew what I was doing. Well, there was no way out of it now. Everybody had their eyes on me. I got my stick ready and after setting the balls up got myself into position. I took a deep breath, wondering how I would be if I hadn't been stupid enough to ask Larry when he said that someone else wasn't in the Palace.

I closed my eyes, pushed the ball and started praying that the earth would swallow me.

"Hey, look at that!"

"That's the best move I've seen in my life!"

Larry said to me, "Come on. Nothing happened."

I opened my eyes and…nearly died! I'd gotten all the balls in! Except for the 8-ball, of course. WOW! I had done excellent. So much so that the team leader said, "Hey, you! Stop cheating!"

"You call that cheating? I call it practice!" I said. I could feel my confidence coming back. "Although I have to admit that I don't really play in my spare time. I rarely play this kind of game."

"Good. Because we don't want those kind of players," someone else on their team said.

Then, he said to Robert, "Hey, sucker. You ashamed of yourself because of Mr. Newiwe-newiwe here?"

"Shut up," he said. I could tell he was getting angry.

"We have our own names, too, you know?" said Larry.

"And they don't mean anything to me," he said.

"Just like you don't mean anything to me," I said defiantly. I walked right up to his face. "You're nothing but a nuisance and a pest."

"Feeling's the same."

We got back into our game positions and resumed playing. A few minute later I was still beating him by a whole lot. It was now the final round. It was his turn. But it didn't help make me feel better when he got two in a row. Which of course, meant he got another turn.

I might as well admit it. He got 12 more turns. I don't know what suddenly got into him. It was like he was handling a machine gun or something. He didn't fail until he was two balls away from the 8-ball. But of course, I couldn't let him know what I was thinking.

I just stepped up to the table, trying to look confident and not saying a word. He sure left it really hard for me, I'll say that. There were only two balls left besides the 8-ball. And both were on opposite sides of the table.

You'll never believe it. I actually won that round! I don't know how, but I managed to win that round! There were cheers and applauses, even from some of the other team's members. "I believe that is game over," I said to the team leader.

He was so mad that he said…never mind what he said. Anyways, he was about to leave angry, but I grabbed him. "I believe orders were to clean this place up before leaving. And I'll make sure that you do that!" I threw him against the pool table.

" _Say Larry_ ," I said to him, through mind communication. " _How well do you think I played it?_ "

" _I'm not sure but that girl isn't paying attention to Robert anymore. She's paying attention to YOU._ "

HUH?

Sure enough, Blondie was no more than a foot away from me, smiling suggestively. Okay, we got Robert out of this mess. Now let's get out of here! "Hey, doll! You want me to get you a root beer?"

Uh-oh. "Um, no thanks. I've had enough soft drinks today. I've been to lots of places. The ice cream shop, the hamburger place, the hot dog stand…I'll just go home and drink just plain old spring water." I started walking backwards and got myself ready to make a quick escape.

All of the sudden, I heard Larry's voice saying, "Hey, break it up! Break it up!" But I didn't see him. Then, Robert came running out of the bathroom and ran right into me. I noticed his cheek was bruised.

And unless I was mistaken…he was bleeding?! "What happened?"

Larry came out of the restroom. "Tough Guy gave him a good one."

Guess who came out next? Lord Swifty himself. "He deserved it!"

I walked up to him. "Well, you just made the biggest mistake of your life, buddy! Do you know who you just punched?"

"Yeah, I know him! He came looking for trouble and he sure found it!"

Maybe I shouldn't have said what I did. Or maybe it was a good thing I did. I still don't know now. "He is my brother! Do you know who I am?"

"I wouldn't care in the least, bucko!"

"Oh, yeah?" And with that said, I did what was probably one the most stupid things I've ever done. I took off my sunglasses.


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone recognized me instantly. I mean, even the girl who had been looking at Robert and me actually slipped.

But what I wasn't ready for was for when someone else happened to be walking by at that moment. And her initials are L.W. Yep, that's who.

She was walking down the hallways, when she stopped and said, "What are you doing here?"

HUH?! Uh-oh!

My mind started racing almost as fast as my heart was palpitating. I had to say something quick to clear all doubts. I turned to the guy who'd just punched Robert in the nose. "And you stay away from my brother! If you ever mess around with him, I'll take care of you personally! PERSONALLY, if you know what I mean!" Then I turned to Robert. "Come on, let's go."

We had just started to leave when Lilia grabbed by the arm and said, "What as that all about?"

"What? Oh, that. Well, I, uh…" My mind drew a blank. I tried to get my mouth muscles to move and my vocal cords to say something but they just weren't responding to Command Control. Or my brain in simple words.

"Oh, just a little scuffle," said Larry. "You know how kids of today are. They like to get rough once in a while. Especially 12-year-old boys who are just starting to grow."

"Um, yeah, that's it," I said. _Now can we get out of here?!_

I grabbed Robert by the arm and we started on our way home. Well, more like ran two-thirds of the way and didn't even stop sprinting and jogging until we were two or three blocks away.

I decided that it was time for me to change my role from Protector to Disciplinary Judge. "As for you," I said to Robert. "What have you got to say for yourself, young man? What were you thinking, hanging out with a bunch of hoodlums like those?"

His answer surprised me. "I'm fine okay. I was perfectly fine!"

Fine? "You end up with a black eye and a bloody nose. You call that fine?"

Then he looked at me straight in the eye. "It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't interfered in what's not your business!"

Before he could turn around I grabbed him firmly. "Listen to me, Robert S. Kyverná. You and I may both be minors. We may be still in our early teens. I know that I still have a lot to learn and mature. I'm only 14. But I have lived longer and I've had more experience than you! You've barely started your adolescence!"

"Yeah, barely started to change," said Larry.

"Stay out of this Larry!" I yelled at him.

He blinked his eyes and raised his eyebrows. "Chill, dude, chill. Just trying to help."

"Well, I didn't ask you for your help!"

Then Robert said, "He's right you know. Chill, dude."

Dude? DUDE?! Did he just call me dude?

I looked at Robert in shock. "Did you just call me…" I laughed at that. It was a half-sarcastic, half-angry laughter. "Oh, you're really asking for it you know! You're trying my patience."

"You already made lose mine," he said defiantly.

All right, that did it. "Okay, you've brought this upon yourself. You're a little too old for me to give a good whipping or spanking. But you will still pay the mistakes that you make. From now on, I don't want you going anywhere besides school without me knowing about it. And I want you to be inside after sund…no, wait! I mean, before sundown. And Larry, shut up your laughing!"

That fool was on the ground rolling and practically dying of laughter. "After sundown! Ha ha ha! He'll definitely obey that!"

I rolled my eyes. He's hopeless.

Anyways…

Then Robert said, "Seriously, I can't go anywhere without you knowing?"

I was about to say "yes." But I stopped myself just in time. I knew exactly what he was trying to pull on me. After I said "yes", he was going to say something stupid like, "even to the bathroom?" That would make me look like a fool and it would lose the disciplinary touch of the moment.

"Oh no you don't! You're going to trick me! You know perfectly well what I'm telling you!"

"What about the bathroom?"

"Robert…"

"Or when I have to go shower…"

"Robert…"

"Or when I need to go buy something for the girls. Or when…"

"WILL YOU LET ME FINISH?!"

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. "Robert. I'm talking about places where you can get in trouble, like at the pool game. You are more than capable of understanding that."

He didn't answer. He didn't even seem to respond. It was like everything I had just said to him had gone in one ear and out the other. It was obvious that he wasn't listening to anything of what I had just said.

Talk about timing!

At that moment, one of the kids on Robert's team went walking by. "Hey, Rob, see you tomorrow night. Remember: pinball, pinball, pinball!"

"I'll be there!" said Robert. But I had just said to him that…OH! I give up.

I sighed. "Do whatever you want. You already know how I feel about you hanging out with…with certain peoples. But it's your life. I'll only say this. The decisions that you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. And if it's a bad decision, you won't just be hurting yourself. You'll be hurting everyone around you."

I was about to just give in when Larry said to me through Mind Communication, " _Hey, what about the way that girl was dressed._ "

"And another thing," I said to Robert. "That girl…the way she was dressed…I mean, do you what that can lead to?"

"Yeah. It can lead to playing basketball," said Larry.

I turned around at him and gave him a menacing glare. Then back to Robert. He still didn't show any response. "All right. All right. I've had just about enough! You want me to stay out of your life? Say the word and I'll just stay out of your life!"

Still no response. But then he turned around without saying a word, walked up to the Palace, and went in, slamming the door behind him. I looked at Larry. "That was rotten." He chuckled.

I crossed my arms. "First man-to-man talk with my brother and look what happens."

"Yeah, that usually happens the first time."

"Well, now what?"

"You know, I think I know what the problem is."

I stared at the lunatic in front of me. "You?! How could you possibly know anything?"

"Well, the way I said it is that Robert is trying to fit in with other types of people. I mean, even though he is a prince, but he doesn't like to show off that. It's almost like he doesn't want to be rich and powerful. He wants to fit in with street kids."

I was about to laugh in face and say what a foolish thought that was, but I started to process it in my mind. Hmm. When you think about it….it did make some sense here and there.

"You know, now that I think about it…I think you may be right. I think he's starting to turn into one."

"Spiny, I don't think he is. He does his homework and he's always been responsible. I think he's just s scurrier."

"A what?"

"A street-goer. But that doesn't make him a street kid."

Well, I couldn't argue with that, but….oh well. "What time is it?" said Larry.

"I don't know."

"Look on your iPhone."

"Are you calling me an idiot?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah and what are you going to do about it?"

Okay, long story short, I didn't have to time or energy to give Larry the thrashing that he so richly deserves. "Oh, forget it. It's 10:30." Wow, it was late. I hadn't even realized that all this time we'd been outside. "Come on. Let's get to bed. I'm exhausted!"

Larry yawned, "Oh, me too."

It was already dark when we got in. I was sort of thankful everyone else was asleep. I certainly didn't feel like talking or explaining to anyone. We got up to our room and changed into my pajamas. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I slipped under the covers and turned out the light.

"Hey, Spiny."

"What?"

"I have a confession to make."

"What is it?"

"This isn't the first time Robert went there."

My eyes popped open and all the drowsiness went away. I turned around. "What? You mean, he's been sneaking out of here?!"

I could see his expression in the darkness. "My, what a beautiful moon we have out tonight! Doesn't the sky look lovely?"

I'd had enough of his games. I threw off the covers, turned on the light again and pulled him out of his bed. "Come on! Say it or you'll be looking at stars for the rest of your life!"

"All right, all right!" He released himself from my grip. "He's been sneaking out of here for some time now. I don't know exactly how."

For the second time in that day, my mind drew a blank. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't understand it. "What is he trying to prove with this behavior?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that he wants to be a normal kid. Someone who isn't part of the Royal Family. Someone without wealth, influence, or privileges."

I sighed and fell on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "What am I going to do with him?"

"Kill him. Send him to a butcher or a weenie factory. Or even the smokehouse you built in the backyard."

"LARRY!"

"Huh? Just trying to throw in some humor so this won't all be so doom and gloom."

"I know, I know. So, what do you think I should do?"

He reached under his bed and handed me a belt. "Use it. It's always worked since the dawn of time." And he started snickering.

"That's not funny."

To which of course, he started howling with laughter until his ribs were hurting. He stopped abruptly. "Nah, just kidding. But seriously now, I don't really know how you should handle that situation. That's pretty much up to you, being the Head of the Royal Family."

I guess he was right. I was to turn in when he said, "Do you have a Bud Light?"

I froze. "A WHAT?"

"A Bud Light. You know, beer."

"Get it yourself!"

"Just asking."

I lied on my back and closed my eyes. I was starting to fall asleep, when I felt something lumpy. I got up and checked the mattress under me. Hmm. Maybe I'd imagined it. That can happen. Especially when you've been working too hard and you got to bed late. Then I felt it again.

I looked under the bed and…huh? "Greeny?"

"Greeny?!" Larry was shocked too.

"Gredard R. Kyverná, what do you think you are doing hiding under my bed, listening to private conversations, and staying up almost two hours after your bedtime?!"

"I want to know what you said to Robert."

Oh, for heavens' sake! I was too tired to even say something reasonable. "You'll find out later. Now GO TO BED!"

"Okay." He got out from under there and went to his room. Sometimes I wonder…never mind.

"Well, I hope that every living soul in this Palace is finally asleep. I can't take this anymore. Next time, I may have an insomnia breakdown or something."

"Yeah, I know. Kids at his age, they play a game called possum."

"Possum?"

"Yeah, they pretend to be asleep. Then they sneak out of bed and listen through the cracks in the door and they get the full story, uncensored."

"You know what? I think it's something that Kathy and Patty would do if they knew what Robert's been doing. They would have acted like mothers."

"Oh, dear."

"Yeah. I just hope they don't find out. I hope they never have to find out."

"Hope so," said Larry. "Well, goodnight, Spiny."

I nodded. "Yeah, goodnight for you. But who knows what it'll be for me." I turned out the light and laid my head on the pillow. I wish I could've gotten some rest to take my mind off of all this. Unfortunately, I spent the whole night thinking and thinking and wondering and worrying then thinking some more and worrying even more.


	7. Chapter 7

I guess you couldn't say that I didn't sleep. All that thinking does wear you out. I don't know at what time I fell asleep. Pretty late, I'm sure. The alarm woke me at 8:30. For some crazy reason I expected to be up by 10. I guess I was wore out.

"Everyone's at school," said Larry.

"So we have the whole Palace all to ourselves."

"Yeah. I'm going to check in on the kids just to see how they're doing." He grabbed some weird-looking blue-tinted glasses from his drawer. They can give him the ability to see what's happening somewhere else without even being there. That's what we call Teleport-Vision.

"I see your sister, Kathy, at school. Talking with friends." Then he gasped. "They're talking about Robert!"

Now, that really got my attention. "What are they saying?"

"I'll set in on loudspeaker so that you can hear."

I heard a girl's voice say, "So did you hear about the scuffle that happened last night over at the new arcade place?"

"What scuffle?" said Kathy.

"Oh, you mean you don't know?" Hmm. That voice sounded familiar. GASP! Uh-oh. Kylie Anderson.

"That's exactly what I mean. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, my cousin was there, and he said that one of your brothers was there."

"What? Who? Which one?"

"Robert," said another girl's voice. "They say that he even got into a fight with a tough guy."

"Yeah, and that he was with his girl and everything."

"What? Robert doesn't even like girls yet!" Kathy said. I could sense that she was getting upset.

"And you say you didn't even know?" said Kylie.

"I didn't know! I went to bed early last night. But I'm sure that Spiny would not approve of this. You know how strict he is about our curfews. He'd kill me if I arrived home later than 10. Well, I'll admit that part of the reason is that he doesn't like Richard too much."

After that the bell rang and everyone went to their classes.

Larry turned the audio off and the glasses away. We didn't say anything for a while. I guess there was nothing we could say.

Finally Larry said, "Robert's in 5th grade, right?"

"Yeah."

I was he was trying to avoid the subject. Then his phone rang and he answered. "Hello? Yes, it's me. Yeah. Uh-huh. All right, thanks." He hung up.

"What was that?"

"Amarkian Prince Involved in Teen Gang Fight."

"Huh?"

"It's going to be printed out on today's newspaper."

Right then and there I felt like dying. "Oh, no!"

"I'd say uh-oh, instead of oh no."

Great! Now the whole world would know! Larry's phone beeped. "Hey, look at this." Someone had sent him a picture of…Robert with a bloody nose. Oh. No. "And you're in the background."

HUH? I looked closer. Sure enough there I…I was dead. I seriously thought about jumping off a plane.

I was really getting nervous now. "Well, they don't know for sure that it's me. Maybe…maybe I'm so far in the background that nobody will recognize me."

"Um, actually, they also told me that police are investigating who it is. And they've already hear rumors that it may be you."

Uh-oh.

"Larry! We need to do something so they won't know it was me!"

He took out a shotgun from the closet and loaded it.

"Not with that, you bonehead! We need to do something!"

All of the sudden, his whole face brightened up. "I know! I'll be back. You stay there!"

He ran out of the room like silver lightning. He was gone for about fifteen minutes. I don't know what happened to me, but all of the sudden, I got a funny feeling. Like, I don't know, just a funny feeling.

Larry came back rushing in. He was out of breath. "Look….at…the...picture."

I looked at it and…hey! I disappeared from it! "What did you do?"

"Went…back…to…last night…and…changed…the…past."

"Oh…well, thanks. That was a close one."

"Sure was."

(AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. RECESS TIME.)

"Hey, Robert," some kid said to him.

"Hey, what's up?"

"We're playing Crazy 8's tonight."

"What time?"

"It starts at 8:30 pm. It's going to be a mega-marathon."

"Sounds intriguing."

"We're meeting at the Card-Kard-Kardashian. Heh, I know stupid name for a restaurant but that's the place."

"I might be there. I might."

(BACK AT THE PALACE.)

Larry and I didn't do much that day. Time went flying by. Before we knew it, it was time for the kids to get home. Dismissal time.

I'd just finished making something to eat. I came out of the Family Kitchen. "Hey, Larry!"

He came jumping down the stairs. "Yeah?"

"I finished making lunch."

"Lunch?"

"Well, you know. The mid-afternoon meal. The one that comes between lunch and dinner. Grilled cheese sandwiches and coleslaw."

"I thought you didn't like coleslaw. You hate that stuff."

"I do. Besides, who said I was going to eat it."

"Oh, okay. Is there still lemonade left?"

"Yeah. I made some more."

As if on cue, the door opened and Greeny walked in. He comes home first because…well, he's in 1st grade and they get out earlier. "Greeny," I said to him.

"What?"

"You left the door open again."

He turned around. "Oh, sorry." He went and closed it. Then he came back. "How was school?"

"Great. Except there was this kid who kept picking his nose."

I froze. Larry and I exchanged glances. "Oh?"

"And he kept eating it."

Before he could say anything else, I said in a loud voice, "Well, come on, let's go eat!" The way I'd been for the past 18 hours, I was liable to lose my lunch at any moment and for no good reason. I mean, my stomach gets very sensitive under stressful conditions.

But that doesn't stop 7-year-old boys from talking. "And he said it tasted good."

"Greeny, hush."

"And there was this other kid. And he stinked like when I forget to go to the…"

"GREENY!"

He finally sat down to eat. Phew! Some things I would really prefer never to find out.

A few minutes later I was in the kitchen, cleaning up when Larry came bursting in. "Hey, Spiny. Robert's home."

"He is? All right."

"No, you don't get it. I mean, just now I found out that he's home."

I started drying the dishes. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, he's been home for the past ten minutes but I just barely found out. I happened to be looking at the alarm and it said the the front door was open."

"Was it?"

"Yeah, by about one millimeter. I guess he sneaked in and didn't close it completely."

I couldn't figure that. Robert sneaking around behind our backs? "Well, that does it. I'm going to have a talk with that kid."

"What about the towels?"

"YOU dry them!"

I ran up the stairs and to his room. I usually knock, but the way I was feeling I didn't think that was necessary. I opened the door and…got hairspray in my face. Let me tell you something about hairspray. It stinks! Oh, it STINKS! Don't ever get it in your face.

My eyes got red and watery and they stung. "Robert what are you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I don't know. Maybe painting your bowling ball or something?"

He grinned at me. "You sure are dumb for being the school's smartest kid."

I crossed my arms and sneered at him. "That's not funny!"

"I didn't mean it to be funny, you know."

I sighed. Calm yourself, Spiny. Patience. Patience. "Are you going to eat with us?"

"Sure, sure. In a minute."

I turned around and…OOF! Smack bumped right into Larry. "What are you doing here?!"

"I live here."

"I thought I told you to stay in the kitchen."

"You mean you're not sure you told me?"

"Oh, FORGET IT!"

"By the way," Robert said. "Larry, how's it going?"

HUH?

Larry looked speechless. "Um…I…uh, fine." Get this. Robert never even said hi to Larry, much less ask how he's doing. Believe me when I say that this was the first time. Not only that, but remember that only the previous night he'd called me "dude."

A while we were at the table eating. The girls hadn't arrived yet. Then it happened again. "Hey, mon," said Robert. I looked up and…he was referring to me! "Where's the mayonnaise?"

"Um…in the fridge."

"Sure, sure." Sure, sure. Was that all he knew how to say know?

He got up and went to the kitchen. I leaned over to Larry. "He called me 'mon.'"

"I know. And a while back he said something else."

"What was it?"

"Never mind. After you eat."

Hmm. I didn't want to even think of that. Then Greeny perked up. "Hey, Robbie…"

"My name is Robert. Robert."

"Oh, but I always call you Robbie."

"Yeah, well, sometimes you have to accept change whether you like it or not!" Wow. Did he sound angry!

"Spiny, Robbie's being mean to me!"

"I am not, you little squirt, and stop calling me that!"

"All RIGHT!" I yelled. "I will not have discussions at the family table while we're eating. Greeny, if Robert says that he doesn't want you to call him Robbie then don't. And Robert, don't you raise your voice at your brother and I don't want to hear anymore name-calling. Am I clear on this?"

Robert sighed. "Yes, sir."

Then Greeny said, "Yes, sir."

I nodded. "Good."

The rest of the meal was quiet. I guess I sorta scared everyone. That wasn't my intention, you see. You have to be firm. Otherwise…well, you know.

Afterwards, I sent everyone up to their rooms to do their homework while Larry and I cleaned up. "You know, Larry. Robert was definitely not acting normal today."

He was wiping the food off the dishes. "I guess he doesn't like nicknames anymore."

"Well, I don't get it. He doesn't get angry when people call him Rob."

"Yeah, but…Robby. I mean…"

"Well, so what? Rob and Robbie are both nicknames for Robert."

"Yeah, but Robb-Y. The y. Y. Why, Spiny?"

"Oh, don't start with your jokes! And for your information, idiot, its Robbie, without the y."

"No it's not! You know it as well as I do. Plus, the letter y was never really that cool."

I sighed. What was the use? "What do you know? You've never had a nickname."

"My name is just Larry."

"Yeah, but that's just a shortened form of Lawrence."

"Actually, in my case, it's just Larry. That's my full name."

"Whatever. The point is you don't have a nickname."

"Pfft. Whatevs!"

"Matter of fact, you don't even have a last name!"

"Oh, what…oh, dear." He ran to the window. "The girls are coming. Run for your life!"

"Coward!" I yelled at him. I ran to the living room. You know what the fool did? For no good reason, he froze my hand! That's right. With his Ice Power, he FROZE MY HAND!

"What'd you do that for?!"

"Um…um…um…um…"

"Will you stop meditating and unfreeze my hand this instant?!"

"I shall use Extreme Temperature to unfreeze the ice."

"Oh, no you don't."

But before you could say "homeostasis," Mr. Jerk subjected my hand to temperatures so hot that it would have incinerated a hot stove.

But at that moment, the doorknob started jiggling and wiggling. Someone was trying to get in. But it didn't matter who it was, we'd be doomed. There's plenty of reasons of why I don't want anyone to know that there is such thing as super-powers. It seemed like forever for the door to creak open.

And then…


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey, guys," said Kathy.

When Kathy came in the living room, Larry and I were "watching" TV. I pretended to be excited. Well, I didn't need to pretend that much. My heart was still palpitating. "Oh, hi, sis."

"Hey, Larry."

"Hi." He kept his eyes glued on the screen.

"Larry, I didn't know you were interested in classical music operas."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"What you're watching. You're watching an opera, aren't you?"

"I am?" I nudged him. "Oh, yeah, yeah. I am. I just thought it was time that I expanded my interests you know. You can't live with techno music for the rest of your life."

"I guess so. I'll be up in my room, doing homework. Patty's a little late. She'll be here in a while."

But for some reason, I wasn't too anxious for anything anymore.

I went up the stairs with Larry to Robert's room. He wasn't there. Greeny said that he'd gone to the Television Room. "Maybe he finally realized his wealth," said Larry. Of course I dismissed it as being a ridiculous thought. But not completely.

(IN THE TELEVISION ROOM.)

Robert was exhausted from everything that had happened since last night. He didn't feel like talking to Spiny ever again. He thought while chewed _Skittles_ and watched another episode of _I Love Lucy_. He was about to laugh when Lucy started devouring all the chocolates in the factory when his phone buzzed.

He checked his message inbox. "Remember. Crazy 8's." The message came with a winking emoticon.

He texted back: "Still early."

He got back to his show. Then, the phone buzzed. "And maybe, another card game."

Uh-oh, he thought. I hope it doesn't start with the letter P. "Another card game?" he texted back.

"Does the word chips sound familiar?"

"I love chips, but not that much," Robert texted. _They know that gambling is against the law in Amarkia. Maybe it's the American kids._ He never got another response. He felt relieved. Maybe his silence was more convincing.

He fell asleep after watching four more episodes.

(IN SPINY'S ROOM.)

"I'm going to talk to him, right now."

"All right," said Larry.

I went to Rob's room. He still wasn't there. He must've been still watching TV. I went up to the TV room. I slowly creaked the door open. Rob was fast asleep on the couch, Skittles all over the floor, and his long blonde hair dangling. The TV was humming.

I saw his phone and I don't why, but for some reason I just started walking towards it. It buzzed. I barely had time to see that he'd gotten a new text message when he jumped and scared the daylights out of me.

"AHH!"

"Oh, sorry I…what are you doing here?"

"Um…"

We were both an equal distance from the phone. I did the first thing that came to my mind. Robert must've been thinking the same, because when I did it he did it too. We both jumped to grab his phone. He struggled and pushed and kicked. "Larry, help me!" said Robert.

Oh, no! If he thought that my loyal friend Larry would…ha!...ha…heh…huh. As a matter of fact he did. You know what Larry the Traitor did? He came in and BIT me on the hand. And it does hurt, in case you're wondering. It hurts like crazy!

I kicked Larry out of the way and pulled at the phone which was in Robert's hands. "Give it!"

"NO!"

"Give it, if you know what's best for you!"

"I won't!"

"I have every right in the world to see what you're doing on the phone!"

"Let go!"

"What are you doing?!" said Kathy. Huh, Kathy? What was she doing in here? The three of us turned to look at her. And I'm sorry to say that I lost my grip on the phone and fell backwards against the DVD case.

Kathy had her arms crossed. She looked…quite angry, actually. For a moment I thought she was angry at me. But then she walked to Robert and said, "Why were you out late last night playing pool with those kids? Do you know that it's in the newspaper and everyone in school was talking about it?"

Well, now that I have some back-up…"Robert, why are you acting so sneaky like this? You've never acted like this. What's gotten into you?"

"Urge."

"Urge? Urge to do what?"

"Hang out with friends."

I had to reason with him. Appeal to his mind and heart. "You have friends. You go to the park, to the movies, to Arnold's, you play baseball and soccer, you have sleepovers…"

"Well, maybe I'm just more for arcade stuff! Maybe that's just more mature!"

"Mature?! We have an arcade room in the Palace that's twice as much fun."

"You guys are different. You're not other people."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?!"

"THAT YOU'RE NOT NORMAL PEOPLE!"

I was yelling now, too. "WE'RE AS NORMAL AS ANY PERSON OUTSIDE THESE PALACE WALLS!"

"UGH! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" He pushed me aside and ran out the room. Larry looked like he'd gone into shock. Kathy said, "What in heaven's name came over you?! That was the most disgraceful behavior I have ever seen!"

I was in no mood to be yelled at by anyone. "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" She stormed out of there and slammed the door behind her so hard I thought I'd never be able to open it. I collapsed on the couch. "I feel like a father."

"Congratulations," said Larry, throwing confetti on me. I socked him in the stomach. As he gasped for breath, I said, "Oh, dry up, will you?"

"Sorry." He sat down next to me. "I guess he's just reached the age where he wants to do things for himself without his family."

"I guess so."

"Spiny," he said in a serious, solemn tone. "We've been friends since forever, right?"

"Right."

"We're really close. Like brothers, too."

"Yeah."

"And even in all the dimensions and parallel universes where we exist."

"True."

"Where I saw you grow up and become a leader."

"Yeah."

"Well, that's how I know why this is going on. You see, there's even one dimension where I see you die."

"That's a happy thought. What's your point? All you've accomplished so far is creeping me out. More than usual."

"Yeah, I know I creep you out. But the point is, that he's reached the age where he'll start to want more independence."

I sat up straight. "Well, you know I can't really blame him. I never got to experience that. My parents died when I was 10, so when I was 12 I didn't have time to be a kid or a preteen. Now things are a lot better, but back then it was very difficult."

He nodded. "And I know something else. He's going out tonight again. But this time to a hamburger/smoothie place on the outskirts of the city. That's where they play Crazy 8's and other card games."

I didn't really care how Larry had found that out. I just wanted to take action. "What do you think I should do?"

"What do you think anyone else like you would do?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess there aren't many like me," I chuckled.

"Well, in that case. Rule Number One: imprison him in his room."

"What?"

"Rule Number Two: lock his windows with electric fence wiring. And have a helicopter hovering constantly over his room to make sure he stays in there."

What a crazy idea! Now, I'll admit that I was tempted. Don't think I wasn't. But it didn't sound like a good solution. "I don't know, Larry, that doesn't sound very practical."

"Eh, you're right. It'd be a waste of fuel. Besides, Robert would starve to death or die of boredom or commit suicide because of isolation." Gee, talk about positive thinking.

Larry got up and opened the door. Well, he tried to. Kathy had slammed it pretty good. He pushed it good until he swung it open…right in Kathy's face. She appeared from behind the door, rubbing her nose. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"Why you don't you watch out for opening doors?"

"You're the one who slammed the door into me!"

"You're the one who slammed it shut in the first place!"

I guess it was time for me to play Referee again. "Hold it, hold it, hold it, HOLD IT! What's the matter with you two! You're always picking at one another."

"Stay out of this, Sheriff Andy Taylor," said Larry. No sense talking to him.

"Kathy, why can't you like Larry? At least as a friend."

"Him and me friends?! Ha ha ha! That'll be the day. That'll be the day. The day he and I are friends will be the day it snows in the middle of June on a beach in Puerto Rico."

"Kathy, remember what they say," said Larry. "Think before you speak and be careful what you wish for, because it just might happen."

I don't think that convinced Kathy, cause she walked up to him and said, "I'd rather have my arms and legs cut off and get thrown off a cliff than to be friends with you."

"Again, careful what you wish for."

"Oh, shut up!" As always happens after conversing with Larry, she walked away angry.

A few minutes later, I was passing down by the living room. Robert had fallen asleep again on the couch. I kept wondering how such an innocent-looking boy could cause all this trouble. Then his phone buzzed. Must be another text message.

I tip-toed quietly and reached down to grab the phone.

Have you ever heard of the phrase, "Curiosity killed the cat"? Well, that's just about what nearly happened to me. I almost had a heart attack. I'll tell you.

The instant I grabbed Robert's phone, a loud robotic voice said, "ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!" Robert quickly got up. I dived out of there before he saw me. Then he saw the phone where I'd dropped it on the carpet. "Oh. Thank goodness for that Anti-Other-Person-Touching-My-Phone-Software."

Anti-Person-Software?! Larry appeared next to me. He'd seen the whole thing. "You know anything about this?"

"Yeah. Um…you see when he was 10 years old, he asked me to install that on his phone."

I felt my blood boiling and my pulse raced. "You WHAT?!"

"Um…I installed it."

"Why did you do that?"

"Um…" he grinned foolishly. "I'm not quite sure."

"Because you're an idiot. That's why!"

"He threatened to send to guards to throw me in the dungeon."

"We don't even have a dungeon, you fool!"

"Uh….I didn't…quite…know that."

"Besides, you could beat up all the guards single-handedly even if they were fully armed. You know that!"

"Well, if it's any consolation to you, I can control virtual technology from any place and time."

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you uninstalled it."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

He got on all fours and started creeping towards Robert, who had fallen asleep again. As Larry reached for the phone, Robert yawned. "Ugh! Doesn't he ever brush his teeth?"

Larry finally managed to get ahold of the phone. Just in time, too, because a new text message notification came. "It says, 'So eight o'clock. Crazy 8's.'"

"Tell him he'll be there."

"Yes, sir." He started texting.

 _Oh, he'll be there all right. And he won't be alone_. "Spiny."

"Hmm?"

"He says, 'And better luck coming out the window this time. Last time you left your seat with glass pieces all over it."

I almost wanted to laugh, but didn't for obvious reasons. And as I would find out later, there would be no laughing matter whatsoever.


	9. Chapter 9

Several hours later, it was fifteen minutes till eight. Robert had left five minutes earlier. Larry said to wait that long before following him. That way no one would get suspicious. We went out with the pretext of going out for a walk.

We followed Robert for quite a while. You know, for only being a fifteen minute jog, it sure seemed like it was far. I guess it was just the circumstances.

Anyways, we arrived at the place. Boy, talk about isolation! The restaurant didn't have any banners and there wasn't another building as far as I could tell. The front sign was missing and there was no clue as to what the name used to be. I guess that's they called it Card-Kard-Kardashian. Larry and I got our disguises on. I won't tell you what they are. Use your imagination.

We stepped in. There two group of kids all huddled around a table. They instantly looked at us. "Hey. You! What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?"

"If you're here to get a burger, that's your business."

"That too, that too. We heard of the little card event that was going to take place here this evening."

These were other kids by the way. The leader of Robert's group said, "What's your group's name?"

I looked at Larry then back at them. "We don't belong to any group."

"Ah, a swinger, huh? Robert's a swinger, too. You can be with us, too, if you like."

"Well…"

"We'll do it!" said Larry. He just dives into things without thinking of the consequences. Meanwhile, Robert's team leader said, "Hey, Patrick. Go get us a deck of cards."

Larry was reaching into his jacket pocket to get out a deck of cards, but the other guy said, "Don't take out your cards, buddy. Don't take them out."

He turned to the waiter. "Hey, waiter! Go buy us a deck of cards. Three of them."

"Huh? But I…"

"I said go get us cards!"

"Um…well…how about some cash."

The kid checked his pockets… "Never mind."

Then, the door opened and another group of kids walked in. I had never seen them before. I wasn't sure if Robert knew them or not. "Hey, Larry," I whispered.

"What?"

"You ever see those kids before?"

"No. First time."

"I don't think they're the same gang from last night."

"Nah, they look different and…uh-oh."

"What?"

"Look who's behind them. I think you'll know him."

When I saw him, my blood froze and I got very dizzy. It was Tough Guy. Gulp! He looked a lot tougher and bigger in that gang jacket. I even saw the name of the gang. The Skullbones. Eesh!

"Well, he-llo ladies, gentlemen," then he turned to me, "and others." Uh-oh. I hoped he didn't recognize me. Even if he didn't know I was the King. "Ready for a game of Crazy 8's."

Robert's team leader said, "Sure are. Waiter! Where those cards?"

The waiter, he was a Majungasaurus, walked up to him and handed him three decks. "Mind if I play?"

"Yeah, so don't!" Talk about manners. "Now go wait on somebody that needs ya!"

"There isn't anyone else!"

"SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF HERE!"

The waiter started to leave, but I caught him to say, "My friend and I would like two root beers, two chicken sandwiches and a large order of fries."

He didn't look too happy. Especially after he'd been yelled at like that.

"All right, let's get started," one of the kids said.

Another kid started to shuffle the cards, but Tough Guy stopped him. "And don't peek!"

"I never peek!"

"Why don't we let Mr. Newie shuffle? I'm sure he doesn't know the tactics of shuffling. He doesn't look too smart." My first impulse was to punch him so hard he'd go around the galaxy. Twice.

But of course I didn't. "Well, maybe I can't do as well. But that's probably because I don't cheat either."

"I'll do it," said Larry. I didn't even have a chance to respond. He'd already grabbed the deck of cards. And that's when he started. He shuffled and threw the cards from hand to another in an even row. Then he threw the cards in the air and they landed in a perfect stack. Then he threw them in circles around himself and got them all back together.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" I stopped him. "Show-off! Will you stop wasting our time and just shuffle?"

"Yeah, we're here to play, not to see. So just calm down," said one of the kids on the opposing team.

Robert started to distribute the cards. Meanwhile, the waiter came by with my order. "Here you go."

"Thank you. Here," I said, handing him a $20 bill. "Keep the change."

"Oh! Thank you, young man."

After he left, a girl on the opposing team. "Say, that was a pretty good-looking piece of green paper, honey. You got some inheritance or something?"

"Well, let's just say that I'm not in need. But one thing is straight. I never play for money. And I don't ever make bets on anything. Even a penny."

"You got a clean, sport mind," said Robert's team leader. "We like that kind of thing."

"Well, enough talk and more play," said Tough Guy.

The next twenty minutes or so were pretty much no talk and only cards moving back and forth. Then I said to Larry through Mind Communication, "What cards you going to play?"

"I don't know. What cards do you have?" he answered.

"I have three 6's and two aces."

"Two aces, huh? Well, I have one 8 and two kings. Wanna get rid of those kings."

"How do you think we should do our play?"

"Hmm. Play the aces."

"Both of them? Are you sure?"

"Just do it, I know what I'm telling you."

Okay. I looked up. "My turn already?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then." I played two aces.

Robert's team leader said, "Ah, two aces…what? Two aces?!"

Well, not that I want to brag. I don't even know how the game works but I'll say this: I impressed them. Robert's team, anyway. The other team didn't look so thrilled.

A few minutes later, Robert's team had the upper hand. Robert drew and looked at his cards. Another guy leaned over to see what he had. "Hey, waiter!"

"What!"

"Get us another deck of cards. Mr. Fingernails has gotten ahold of these and marked them." He looked angrily at Tough Guy and his team. "It's what we call cheating!"

"Cheating? Ha!" Tough Guy laughed. "I can hardly call it cheating."

"Oh, no? I know cheating when I see it and believe me, if you want to avoid trouble, you just better watch it!"

Tough Guy ignored him of course. I didn't say anything. I needed to remain as low as possible.

The next few hours were a blur. Before we knew it, it was nearing 11 pm. "Well, you guys," said a girl on Robert's team. "It's 10:50. We should be wrapping this game up."

"Yes, we should," said the team leader. "And next time, bring your card fingers, not your cardboard."

"Oh, shut up!" said Tough Guy.

Larry stood up. "We still have one move left. It's our turn."

I looked at my cards. Two pairs of 4's. I placed them on the table. "Hey! That's the winning hand! We won!" said Robert.

Huh? We won? I mean, _sure we did_. I mean, I knew what I was doing. "Well, that wraps it up, doesn't it?" I said, my confidence returning.

"Sure does," said Larry.

"Don't cry victory, yet," said Tough Guy. "Tomorrow night. Domino Dilemma. If you're tough, you'll be there."

"Count on it," said Robert.

"It's going to be pretty late. You better ask your beddy-time-timeys."

"Ah, don't worry. We have no curfew."

"See you at 1:30 am."

One-thirty in the morning?! Geesh! I had better things to do at that time. Like, sleeping! But I couldn't back down now.

Larry and I left through a different path so that we could get there before Robert and pretend to be already asleep. We got there no more than ten minutes before he arrived. Funny, though.

I mean, I heard him in his room and turning the lights out but I never heard him opening the front door. Matter of fact, I didn't even hear any windows opening.

"Larry, do you suppose he got in?"

"Uh, uh, uh…good night!"

"Larry! Is there something I don't know that I should know but I don't know because only you know?"

"What?"

"Never mind. Just answer me."

"Um…I think Robert used the secret passageway that leads from outside to his room."

"What passageway?"

"Um…the one I accidentally helped him build?"

"WHAT?!"

"I, I don't know how it happened. I always seemed to get mixed up in Robert's plots."

"Well the next time he ever asks you for a favor, deny it. Just deny it and stay out of it!"

"You won't be too happy with the other favor I did for him."

I sat up. "What?"

"Um…hee hee."

"Larry!"

"Um…well, I, uh, got him a groupie."

I stared at him. _He's a nut!_ "I keep wondering of a way to kill you without murdering you."

"You're weird, Spiny."

"Well, that just makes you weirder. Now shut up and go to sleep!"


	10. Chapter 10

I had a great dream. And it had nothing to do with romance, so don't call me a sissy or anything. It was about food.

I was in a fancy restaurant and the waiter had given me a gigantic country-style sirloin steak. It was SO thick and juicy and warm and tender. And then there were French fries, a baked potato with butter, salad, and old-fashioned root beer. And for dessert, I had a piece of warm double-fudge chocolate soda cake with vanilla ice-cream and a one-liter chocolate sundae with roasted almonds.

Oh, it was SO good. It would've been better, but Larry woke me up just as I was about to bite the warm piece of chocolate cake.

"Spiny! Wake up! It's 10 am!"

"Uh…no, not today thank you." Okay, I was still half-asleep.

"It's 10 am!"

"Uhhh…..I don't care who he is, tell him to get off my property."

"He said he wants to kill you."

"Zzzzz. Tell him not to take too long."

"He says he'll do it as quick as possible so he can get to Lilia afterwards."

Okay, that really did the trick. "NO! Leave her alone! Get away from her!" I sat straight up and blinked my eyes. I saw…a bed…a room…oh…I was in my room. And next to me, was a crazy Eoraptor with a stupid expression. I shook my head. "What happened?"

"You went crazy. Well, more crazy than you already were."

I wasn't fully awake, so I didn't respond in the way I would have liked. Well, important thing was that I was up. I got up and…YAWN...stretched real good. I did a few jumping jacks, some push-ups, and sit-ups.

"Hey! Watch it!" I heard a voice yell from the hallway. I quickly got up and went to see what the problem was. "What is it?"

Kathy. I wasn't really surprised. She always had something to complain about. "Your…friend here slammed the door in my face again!"

"Hey, calm down! I didn't even know you were here!" said Larry.

"Oh, yeah? You haven't even apologized for the first time."

"WILL YOU TWO STOP IT!?" I yelled.

Talk about silence. At that moment, Patty came up. "What happened? What's all the yelling about?"

"Oh, nothing. Hansel and Gretel are bickering again."

"Since when did Gretel become the ugly witch?" said Larry.

 _Oh_ , you should've seen the look on Kathy's face. "What…did…you…say?!"

"What are you deaf or something? You heard me! You're a witch!" Larry said defiantly.

"Shut up both of you!" I yelled again. "I am sick and tired of hearing you fighting all the time! Can't you learn to get along?"

"Yeah, it's silly to get so worked up over a slam in the face," Patty said.

Now I know that her intentions were all good and the she wants harmony and peace everywhere. But…well, she is a little too optimistic. And as what you'll see what happened right after, I can say that she spoke too soon.

See, right after she said that, she continued walking down the hallway and then…BAM! Out of nowhere, a door swung open and slammed Patty right in the face! Well, the word "slam" is sort of an understatement. It was the hardest knock in the face you'd ever seen. I mean, it was POW!

Only this time it wasn't Larry. It was Robert. He was coming out of his room and…well; let's just say that Patty was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Patty got up from the floor, holding her hand to her face.

I was pretty sure that she was going to take it in a calm, mature, and peaceful way. I mean, she was the better-behaved of the two and she was going to demonstrate that there are better ways to solve problems.

"You hit me, you fool!" she said in a tone of voice I'd never heard before.

"It wasn't intentional," said Robert. "I was just stepping out of my room. By the way, what's for breakfast?"

"Breakfast?! Nothing, that's what!"

"You expect me to starve?"

"Make your own breakfast!" Then she turned to all of us. "And that goes for you too! Kitchen is closed for the rest of the day!"

Kathy said, "Good girl!" She and Patty locked arms and stomped away, their heads up high.

Whoa.

At that moment, Greeny came out. "Hi," he said, obviously unaware of the whole, um, situation that happened.

"HI, Greeny. How are you?" I said. Well, at least somebody was in a good mood. "How did you sleep?"

"Great," he said, stretching. "Slept like a baby." Well, he wasn't too far off.

"Well, who's going to make food?" Robert said. Then the three of them looked at me. I sighed. "All right. I'll do KP duties. How does French toast and waffles sound?"

"Well, I don't know how they sound, but I'm sure they taste good," said Larry.

"I'd like a steak," said Robert.

"A steak?" I said.

"Yeah. Anything wrong with that? It's not illegal, is it?"

"Watch your tone of voice!"

Sigh. I was getting sick of this. If the circumstances had been any different, I would've said that I enjoyed making breakfast. But I didn't, of course. It was misery. Anyways, afterwards, Larry and I went to Arnold's to try to forget our family problems.

When we walked in, there was a big sign that said, _Happy National Whoopee Cushion Day!_ I don't know what idiot made that up. I think it was Larry's idea. You know how he is about practical jokes. Well, I was definitely not in the mood for any joking matter. So I didn't laugh or even notice when I sat down on my seat and there was a whoopee cushion.

We sat there thinking for a while. We didn't even say anything, despite the music in the background and the chatter in the restaurant. "Well?" I finally said.

"Well what?" he said.

"What do you think?"

"I think…that your mother was the idiot that made this whoopee cushion business."

GASP. All right, that did it. That was the last straw. Nobody messed with my parents! "Oh, yeah?" I answered. "Well, your mother wore combat boots."

"So? That means she could kick hard."

"That's an insult, Larry."

"Why, thank you!"

"In that case…your mother wore old sack drawers!"

"Oh, yeah?! Well, your mother was so poor she didn't wear anything!"

The whole restaurant came to a standstill. Everything got quiet and everyone froze. "Um…want a burger?" Larry said.

I was SO mad…ugh! Never mind. I stared back at everyone and that pretty much convinced them to continue with whatever they were doing. The music resumed and so did the chit-chattering.

A little while later, while Larry and I were discussing about how to solve our situation, guess who came in? No, not Robert. And thankfully, not Tough Guy. It was Lilia.

She came in, wearing a blue blouse and had her hair held back behind her ears. She was so beautiful! She saw us and walked over to our booth. "Hey, guys!" She always sounds so cheerful and joyous.

"Hi, Lilia," said Larry.

I smiled, trying to look as happy as possible. Which, at the moment, was a great challenge. "Hi, love."

"Hi," she said. "Okay if I sit down?"

"No," said Larry.

"Who asked you?" I said.

"She did."

"She was talking to me, dummy!"

"Oh…that makes sense."

I looked up at her. "Sure you can sit down."

"Thanks." I scooted over and she sat next to me. She grabbed my hand gently. "How you doing?"

"Oh, fine, fine."

"Really?" she asked. "You sure?"

"No, he's not. He's just playing the role of Perfect Boyfriend," said Larry.

"Larry!" I yelled.

"So, there is something wrong?" said Lilia. "I don't mean to intrude, but, by the look on your face, I can tell something's bothering you."

"How can you tell that?" said Larry. He sounded completely astonished. I sighed and replied, "Larry, you see, people who are in love have a way of reading each other's thoughts."

"Weird."

I ignored him and told Lilia the whole thing. Well, maybe not the parts of me and Larry sneaking out and following Robert. But I did say the rest of it. How his attitude was changing and even his personality seemed to be shifting. When I finished, she said, "Oh, Spiny. I'm so sorry to hear that! It must be a really difficult time for you."

"And for me. I didn't even get a decent sleep last night," said Larry.

I shrugged. "I guess it's been hard on all of us. I mean, here I am 14 years and barely finishing 8th grade and I just don't know how to handle a situation like this."

She started caressing my face and playing with my hair. "Well, nobody really expects you too. After all, you are a minor."

"I know, but I always thought I could do so much more than just my age."

She put her arms around me and held me close. Then she kissed me and said, "As long as you do your best, it's all that counts."

I chuckled. "I guess so." Well, I can't say I wasn't totally happy, but at least I was in a better mood.

"Well," said Larry. "Now that we have that settled, why don't we order something?"

"Good idea," I said. "Waiter!"

The waiter had fallen asleep over at the cash register. "Here's your change, buddy," he mumbled.

"Waiter!"

"No pickles."

"WAITER!"

"Huh? What? Huh? Oh?"

"Can we have some service over here?"

"Oh, sure, sure." He got up quickly and ran over to our booth. "What'll you have?"

Larry spoke up first. "I'll have your famous Dip and Fried Potatoes."

The waiter yawned as he wrote down the order. Then he turned to me. "And for you?"

"You want something Lilia?" I asked.

"A chocolate malt, please."

"Chocolate malt for the little lady," the waiter said.

"And I'll have a chocolate soda, a chicken and bacon sandwich and a large order of fries."

He nodded. "And for the girl?"

The three of us looked at him. "WHAT?"

"She already ordered."

"She did? Oh, yeah she did? Sorry about that. Order will be ready in a jiffy."

He ran back to the kitchen, bumping into three people and the way. "He's new here, guys. Give him some time," said Larry.

"Oh, I'll give him time. How does two hours sound?"

"Or thirty minutes?" said Lilia.

"A year?" said Larry. We laughed at that.

When the waiter came back out, he was walking one toe at a time. He was trying to balance the tray with our food on it. He was definitely having trouble. When he was two foot away from our table, the tray started to slide off his hands, heading right for us. I quickly got up. "Whoa! Here let me do it. There we are. You have to get used to the rhythm." I set down the tray on the table and placed the food on it.

"That'll be…uh…let me see…two plus ten…carry the decimal…$12.29."

I reached for my wallet and got out a $15 bill. Yeah, we have those. "Here you are," I handed it to him. "I'll give your change," he said. He reached to get some coins, and he managed to drop about twenty of them on the floor.

It took about ten more minutes, but he finally managed to give me my change and receipt. After he accidentally tore it down the middle and got ink on his shirt.

He apologized and ran back to the kitchen, bumping into another waiter and him drop a bowl of noodles and hot soup on some other kids. Man, I really felt sorry for him. "Well, at least you got your change," said Larry.

"True," I replied. I sat back down next to my love and we started eating.

We hadn't been talking for more than ten minutes when the restaurant door opened, and when I saw who it was…I wished that I'd gone extinct millions of years earlier.


	11. Chapter 11

The whole restaurant turned to see the group of kids who walked in. There were about eight of them. Four guys and four girls. They looked like they were ages 12 to 16. They were wearing expensive-looking leather jackets.

And who was in the back? Robert S. Kyverná.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I went into a state of shock. Trauma might be the more appropriate word.

Lilia and Larry were also speechless. "Is that your brother?!" Lilia asked.

"Uh…I…think so," was all I could say.

"Um, I hope not," said Larry.

"Why do you hope not?"

"Well…just look at what he's wearing! That jacket must be at least in the range of $3,000."

"Three thousand?!"

"At least?!" said Lilia.

And the shoes they were wearing…wow! You should've seen the shoes! I mean, those were not any old pair of _Nike_ sportswear.

Larry must've been thinking the same, because he said, "Look at those shoes! I bet they're made with good animal skin."

"Skin?" said Lilia. Since she's an environmentalist and an advocate for animal rights, I could understand her position. I was too.

"Yeah, you need special licenses to get those kind of shoes made," said Larry.

"I'll say one thing, though. He's getting plenty of attention from the girls." That was true. I mean, every girl in the restaurant was staring at Robert like they were looking at Matt Damon or something.

They all started gathering around him. "Look at that! They're swarming like bees on soda!" said Larry.

"That's flies on honey, stupid. Can't you get your metaphors right?"

"No."

"Didn't think so."

Everyone was admiring Robert and his group. I decided that I needed to investigate this from up close. "Hey, Rob!" I called out.

He instantly looked at me. He looked shocked. I guess he hadn't seen me. "Um…yeah?"

"Why don't you sit with us?"

He looked kind of hesitant. But then he said, "Sure, I don't see any grave reason as to why not."

Grave reason? What was that supposed to mean?

He sat down next to Larry. "Hey, nice jacket!" he said.

"Nice shoes, too," said Lilia.

"Oh, those aren't regular shoes," Robert said. "The species had to go extinct for these babies to be made."

"WHAT?!" I said.

"Just kidding."

"Oh. That's a relief." Well, partly. "Now, um, where did you get that jacket and those shoes?"

Would you believe he didn't answer? He didn't open his mouth or anything. Just stared at me, without changing his expression. "I'll take it as a 'yes.'"

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat with you kids, but I gotta run. See ya." He got up and left with his group.

The three of us stared at each other. "Did he call us kids?" Lilia said.

"I don't think he was talking to the French fries," Larry said.

I shook my head. "I don't believe it. I just can't believe it!"

"That's not how he was two weeks ago," Lilia said. "He's…he's changing."

"Believe me, I've noticed. I have to live with it at home."

"We're going to have to do something about it," said Larry.

"I don't know what we'll do, but I won't leave this restaurant without an idea at least," I said.

"You need help?" said Lilia.

"Yeah. I need an idea."

So the three of us started to do some Heavy-Duty Processing in Data Control. That's my way of saying that we were thinking hard. Data Control is the mind or the brain. Anyways, we were in the middle of deep thoughts, when I heard yelling and shouting outside.

I looked around. Everyone in the restaurant heard it. Then, a kid ran inside and yelled, "Hey, that other gang is beating up Prince Robert."

I felt my breath escaping. We all got up and ran outside. We followed the kid who had told us until we reached an alley two blocks away. There were several big kids, probably 15 to 17 and they were all taking punches at Robert, who was trying to get out of the leader's grip.

I ran towards them, despite Lilia's pleas to not to. "Hey, hey, hey!" I pushed all the other kids away and grabbed Robert by the arm. "All right, back off! What happened here?"

Everyone was staring at me and Robert. The gang remained silent. "All right, I'll count to three. If I don't get a decent explanation for what happened here, there's liable to be some broken bones here. One! Two!"

Before I could finish saying three, I felt a sudden and glancing blow on the back of my head. I saw stars and birds chirping. Everything got really blurry and my legs suddenly got incredibly weak. I collapsed on the ground. Before everything went black, I saw the blurred image of somebody holding a brick in his hand, and raising it above his head to strike me again.

Then everything went black.

When I recovered consciousness, I wasn't on the ground anymore. I was on my bed. I felt a sharp pain in my head, like a really bad migraine. I looked around, and couldn't help but moan from pain.

"No, you're not in heaven," said a voice. I turned to see who it was. Larry. "But you could be in The Other Place."

"Ohhh! Shut up."

He got up and adjusted the pillow under my head. It was wrapped in a bandage. "What happened?"

"The gang leader snuck behind you and hit you in the back of your head with a brick. He was about to hit your face, but Lilia kicked him in the gut. All the kids started fighting. We managed to drive them away."

"And Robert?"

"He's in his room."

"How is he?"

"Okay, I guess. The doctor came that evening and checked you out. He said..."

"Wait a minute! That evening? What are you talking about?"

"Oh. Well, you've been unconscious this whole week."

"Week?! What? What day is this?!"

"It's Friday. Friday the 5th of June. They even postponed the End of School celebrations because of you."

"You mean, school's already out?!"

"Yeah. The day before yesterday. And not it's Friday. It's almost 9 pm. The doctor said you'd be all right by tomorrow morning. He said just to get a good rest tonight."

I lay back on the bed. "All right. But come tomorrow, I have several serious things to attend to."

"Believe me I know. Especially since Robert has continued his behavior."

"I'll find out tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." He turned out the light and I closed my eyes, trying to not get dizzy. I mean, I felt like I was going in circles. Literally.

Next morning, I felt…well, not completely normal. I felt okay, but I still had some pain. I got up and stepped into the hallway. I saw Greeny come out. "Hi, Greeny."

"Good morning, Spiny!" he said. Well, at least one of my brothers still loved and respected me.

Larry arrived. "Well, rise and shine. How are you?"

"I was fine until you came."

"Aww! Thanks."

Well, it was a relief to see that some things were still the same.

"I'm going to get my breakfast," said Greeny.

After he left, Larry said, "I guess we're going to continue keeping our eyes on Robert."

"Yep. But first let's go eat. I'm starving."

We went down to the Breakfast room. To my surprise, Robert was there grabbing things from the fridge. "Well, it was time you got up," he said. I tried my best to ignore that remark. "Let's see. Eggs, fried chicken and green beans. Perfect."

"You're going to eat that for breakfast?" I exclaimed.

"Sure."

"Sick!"

"Aren't you always, Spiny?" said Larry.

"Who asked you?"

Geesh. A guy can't express his own opinion without some pest who keeps butting in other people's business. Anyways, we had our breakfast in silence for the first time in our lives. Afterwards, at around 10 am, or so, Robert got up from the couch in the living room and said, "I'll be back."

I was reading a novel. _Journey to the Center of the Earth_. "We're you going?" I asked.

"Oh, just going to walk around. See the countryside. To the woods." He opened the front door and left. I turned to Larry who was watching a documentary on TV. "What do you make of that?"

"He's going to go roam around."

"Where do you think he'll go?"

"Wherever money and urge take him, I suppose."

I set down my book. "It's not the money I'm worried about. It's the urge. What do you think we should do?"

"Well, we could wait until he comes back and let him tell us what happened?"

"Or…"

"Go to the bathroom."

"Ugh! NO! I mean, follow him, like last time."

He thought about that for a minute. A good, long minute. "To the door!"


	12. Chapter 12

We didn't waste any time. We both raced to the front door and started following Robert. Obviously, we were at a good distance. Just in case we needed to dive behind a bush or a tree. And thankfully, there were several people out walking, so that made it easier.

Robert was in his new leather jacket and boots. He had his hands in his jacket pockets and said hi to every girl he saw along the way. That was definitely new.

While we were making a turn onto a street, a cute blonde girl passed him. You know what he did? He wolf whistled. He really did! Two months earlier, he couldn't whistle "Rock-a-bye Baby."

Larry thought it was hilarious. My response? "Oh, shut up!" I didn't see any joke in this whole situation.

Anyways, Robert kept on walking until he stopped an old country-style restaurant. We followed him inside. I only hoped that this place didn't have security cameras. Anyway, Robert walked in and took a seat. We sat several spots away, with me facing in his direction. Then Robert said to the waitress, "May I have a root beer?"

"Why, sure honey." Honey? Honey?! From a waitress? She was probably 18 or 19. And she was NOT ugly.

"Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Larry whispered.

"What would that be?"

"That waitress. She's a girl from school. From 7th grade."

HUH?! "What? Really? How do you know?"

"I've seen her at dismissal time."

"She's in the 7th grade?!"

He smiled slyly. "Why do ask? Doesn't she look like a 7th grader?"

"Um…well, no, to be honest. I thought she was 18 or 19."

He snickered. "Oh, that's hilarious!"

"It is not!"

"Is too!"

No point in arguing with the most stubborn person on the face of the Earth. It's a waste of time and energy.

Anyways, Rob drank his root beer and he didn't do anything. He wasn't even texting or playing on his phone. I was starting to have second thoughts when a dark-haired girl walked in. "Hi, Robert!" she exclaimed.

Larry and I hid behind our menus. The girl ran over to Robert. He looked quite shocked. That meant that hadn't planned on running into her. "Um…Amanda? Is that you?"

"Yes. How'd you guess?"

I leaned over to Larry, while keeping my eyes on Robert. "He knows her."

"Obviously," he whispered.

Amanda sat down across from Robert. He seemed…uncomfortable. I could tell because he kept looking down in his lap and from side to side, as if he was figuring the nearest exit.

I couldn't hear most of their conversation, but I do know one thing. She was doing all the talking for the two of them. And he was doing the listening for none of them.

"Hey, Larry."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe she's a dropout."

He snorted. "A dropout? She's in the same grade as him."

"Well, you never know."

"What does a dropout have to do with anything?"

"Just an idea."

"Pretty stupid idea, if you ask me."

"Well nobody asked you, so shut up!"

"Well, in my opinion, I think that…"

"Hush!"

Anyways, we stayed there, while we quietly ate our garlic bread. Then, after some ten minutes, Amanda got up and said, "Well, I have to go now. Bye!"

"Yeah, uh, same here."

Amanda left the place as if she had just been proposed marriage. She was definitely crushing hard on Robert.

"That was short," Larry remarked. I was about to reply when, out of nowhere, a friend of Robert appeared. "Hey, stalking the prey, huh?"

"Oh, shut up. I'm not stalking any prey."

"Yeah. Seemed to me like the prey was stalking the predator!"

"Will you just drop it already?"

"All right, all right. By the way, the guys didn't say much about going to the arcade. But they did mention that they're going to have a dart practice."

"Throwing darts? At a target? Ah…that's not really my thing."

"Oh, come on, give it a try. Give it a try. You might surprise yourself."

"Well, all right. Just let me finish my orange ice cream."

Robert's friend sat down next to him. "You know what? I don't think they even grow oranges in the Caribbean."

"Well, wherever they grow them, this stuff is good." Robert finished the last of his ice cream and got up. "Well, I gotta go now."

"So you'll be there?"

"I'll see. I'll see. See ya." He walked out the door.

"Yeah, see ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya!"

They both left in different directions. Larry and I got up and discreetly left the place. We kept walking after Robert until he led us to the mall. He went inside. I kept wondering what he would want from a mall. He's always hated them.

His phone rang, and it scared the daylights out of me! Thankfully, he didn't look behind himself. "Hello? Hey, man. How's it going? I'm fine. What? No, wait. Just a minute! Look, it's not going to kill her if I don't talk to her. She's just a pest who keeps bothering me! Look, I won't discuss it. Goodbye!"

Boy did he sound mad.

He turned to the left and walked into an electronics store. Larry and I waited a while, and then walked in, trying our best to hide our faces. We pretended to look at some things while Robert talked to the store owner.

"Radio controlled? Radio controlled? What's wrong with cable?!" the man exclaimed. "Oh, never mind. I'll show you what we got. Here." He led him over to a section on the other side. We went a little closer. "Here, put on the helmet and you can control the drone with your thoughts."

HUH? This guy was selling drones to minors?! I mean…well, that wasn't my main concern at the moment. Robert put the helmet on and tested it. I must say, he did fly the drone quite well.

"I like this," Robert said. "I'll take it."

"All right, young prince. Come over here and we'll get it for you." They went back to the cash register. The man scanned it and said, "That'll be $8,996."

I almost choked. No, I almost _died_! Almost $9,000! On that little thing?! Where did Robert expect to get the money? I mean, just because he belonged to the richest family on Earth doesn't mean I give him thousands of dollars for his allowance. I only give him $5 at the most!

"I hope Spiny doesn't mind that I use his credit card."

WHAT?!

My credit card?!

How did he get…oh no!

"Larry, do something drastic!"

"What?"

"Throw a marble. A spitball. Do something before he swipes it!"

"What do you mean?!"

"JUST DO IT!" I grabbed Larry by the neck and just as I threw him towards the cash register…the man swiped the card. Larry yelled, "Nooo!" And CRASH! He landed right in some boxes and they all collapsed on him.

Obviously, the store owner was shocked. "What? What are you doing?!"

"I was sent on a special mission from the King Himself."

I leaped up from where I was hiding and snatched the card from the store owner. But before I could get away, Robert grabbed ahold of it and we started another tug of war. "What are you doing here?!" he said.

"What are you doing here?! You know you can't use my credit card! You used it to buy three video game systems last month and thanks to you, I couldn't pay the car insurance!"

"That's you problem!"

"No, it's not! It's yours! Now give it!"

"No, you give it!"

"It's mine!"

"No!"

We both pulled and pulled. My hands started to get sweaty and I was losing my grip. But none of us could hold on to it. We both let go of it and it went flying up above us. And as we both jumped to reach it, it got sucked up into the mall's A/C.

"Now, look what you did!" I yelled.

Robert looked more angry than ever before. He grabbed his drone and stomped out of there.

"Well, look on the bright side," said Larry.

I glared at him. "And just what is that?"

"Um…um…um…um…you've got good credit?"


	13. Chapter 13

I was so furious that I would've exploded. I was so mad that I was afraid that I was going to lose my temper. Believe me; you don't want to see me mad. Anyways, a while later I got home. And la-te-da! Guess who was arriving at that moment?

Mr. High and Mighty himself.

When I went in the house, he yelled, "Patty!"

I pushed in the shoulder. "Who told you to yell?"

"I can yell if I want to. You can't make me not yell!"

Well! Of all the…low-down, good-for-nothing, two-timing, double-crossing, two-faced, bushwhacking, backstabbing…

When Patty arrived she said, "What it is?"

"What's for dinner?"

I could tell that Patty was not happy about Robert's attitude, but she was trying her very best not to lose her temper. "Spaghetti and meatballs and chicken salad."

To least the say that dinner was uneventful. There was no yelling or shouting or name-calling. But there was sure plenty of heavy silence. Not to mention that when I said the prayer to thank for the food, Robert didn't participate and went right on to eating.

Of course this upset me greatly. He was getting worse and worse every time. But I didn't want to start more trouble.

After we finished eating dinner, guess what happened? Did Robert say "thank you" as he had always had done since he could talk? No! He said, "What's for dessert?"

Again, Patty was trying to hold in the fire. "Danish ice cream cake?"

"Ice cream cake, huh?" Larry said.

"Well! We don't get that very often, do we?" I said, trying to sound happy and excited.

Dessert time was pretty uneventful. And awfully quiet, too.

Afterwards, I went into the living room to take nap on my chair. Big, black leather chair. Robert went to lie down on the couch. It was 7 pm. I was about one second from falling asleep when I heard Robert's phone go _Ding-ding!_

I pretended to be asleep. Just to see what Robert would do if he were alone.

Robert picked up the phone. "ATV Racing?" _ATV RACING?!_ Like…real racing…with real go-karts?!

Robert started shaking his head with disapproval. He called his friend. "Yeah? What's this about ATV racing? I know but it sounds dangerous, especially up there in the Upper Woods. There's a lot of deep canyons and steep edges. What? So what if I've played a million times on the video game? That's a whoooooole different world. The real world is much more dangerous and complex. I don't care if everyone's going to be there. Yeah, but…yeah, but…yeah, but… All right, all right! I'll go. Be there in a few minutes. Okay, bye."

Robert sighed. "Fool," he muttered. He stood up and grabbed his leather jacket and stepped out the front door.

I immediately stood up. "Larry!" He came bursting into the living room. "What? What?"

"Robert just left the house. He's going to go do some go-kart racing in the Upper Woods. At night!"

"Whoa."

"Do we follow him?"

He crossed his arms. "What an obvious question. Don't you think?"

I didn't think twice. "Let's go."

We both grabbed our things and went running out the door. Sunset would be in about an hour or less.

We kept following him, until we had reached…well, the place where he was intending to go. When we had arrived, we were in a part of the Upper Woods I'd never been before. We were in some sort of clearing. An area with no trees.

We had traveled quite a bit, so by now the sun was just below the horizon. When we got there, it seemed like the previous group was halfway through racing. Robert went to join his group. There were about five go-karts.

Larry and I, with our disguises on went up to join them. A few were surprised to see us. Robert was. Others were pretty glad to see us. Amanda was one of them. And others weren't too happy. Tough Guy was one of them.

Anyways, after saying hi and all, one of the kids said, "Where's your kart?"

"Oh, we don't actually have one," Larry said.

"Oh. Well, don't worry. We'll supply you with one."

"Much obliged," I answered.

A few minutes later, Larry and I were sitting in our go-kart, waiting for the signal to start. Larry gave me a rundown of how these things work in under 70 seconds. He suggested turning on the engine to give it a warm-up.

Meanwhile, Tough Guy was trying to convince Robert to try it. "Um…I'm not too sure…" he hesitated. I was getting anxious with each passing minute.

"Have you ever driven one of these before, sonny boy?"

"Uh, not really."

I didn't like it how he was calling my brother "sonny boy."

"Well, it's real easy." He more or less pushed Robert into the go-kart driver seat.

"All right, everyone!" said Robert's team leader. "Before we start, we need our relays. Who volunteers?"

I whispered to Larry. "Relays? What does he mean?"

"Well, this is a relay race. Up to a certain point, these karts get very hot. So, they have others waiting at the halfway point waiting so that you can take it from there and keep going."

"Oh."

"Who volunteers for Robert's team?"

I stood up. "I will!"

"Okay. Then it's settled. Okay. I want all the racers to triple-check your vehicles." That took about ten minutes. "Okay. Do you all have the proper gear on?"

That included a helmet, a leather jacket and pants, and leather boots. They were all supposed to be fireproof. And waterproof.

Then, it was time to start. Just before, Tough Guy came up and said, "So you going to be aiding Robert's team, huh?"

"That's right!"

"Well, if suicide's what you want, I'll sure be glad to help you do it." He sneered. I glared at him. "Why don't you climb the tallest building in town and jump off!"

He just laughed as if I had said the most hilarious joke of the century. Well…the joke was on him!

"Ready! Set! GOO!" The night erupted with the noise of roaring engines; flying dust and dirt, and a feeling of…I don't know. Suspense and action, I guess you could call it. The five of us karts raced forward on the dirt racetrack in front of us.

The road was bumpy all the way. There were potholes and big rocks everywhere. I got pretty used to that. I'd been on worse roads.

And the turns…ha! The turns were pretty bad. They were less than 90 degrees. There were probably about three of those turns. I hate to say it, but two of the karts didn't make those turns and ended up rolling over. I only hoped that the drivers and their passengers were all right.

I also hoped that none of those were Robert's.

But what I wasn't ready for was for when the back of my go-kart suddenly went KABOOM!

I don't know what happened, but one minute I'm racing in the night on the roughest terrain on Earth and the next minute I'm flying above the trees.

It was a miracle what happened next. Want me to tell you?

You know how it was a relay race? Well, I don't know what happened, but as I went there flying from a flaming go-kart, thinking that my life was over, when I landed on a soft leather seat with a steering wheel.

It took me a while to see what happened.

I stood there in shock, until someone drove up next to me and sat next to me, shaking me. I shook my head to clear the vapors out and turned to see who it was. I really couldn't make it out in the darkness, but my heart told me that it was my brother.

I'll never forget the expression on his face. It showed an emotion I'd never seen before. Finally he said, "Want me to drive or do you?"

"I'll drive."

The rest of the race was on mainly hilly and smooth road. By now, only two of the first teams were still in the race. As we came down on the last hill, the three remaining karts all started coming down simultaneously towards the finish line.

Robert and I won.

As soon as we crossed that line, I pushed the brakes and yanked the keys out of the ignition.

I was still catching my breath when everyone came to us cheering and applauding. Larry came smiling and shook my hand. Took me a while, but I returned the smiles.

Tough Guy came up, obviously unhappy.

Larry said to me, "Hey. What happened to the one you started with?"

I stepped out of the go-kart, and pointed at Tough Guy. "He planted an explosive in the back of my go-kart." Everyone gasped in shock. However, I did catch some snickering from Tough Guy's team. "I was nearly killed. Instead I landed in the next go-kart."

Tough Guy stepped up to me. "You can't proof anything!"

"Oh, yeah?" I went to my seat where some junk from the other kart had fallen. "How about this? A cut cable and gunpowder!"

All the kids continued gasping and chattering in shock. "If you were in the rough terrain, it probably loosened your cables. You're not supposed to go in that terrain! Therefore, you are disqualified and my team wins!"

"I'm _what?!_ For your information, bucko, all the other go-karts were in that same terrain, including yours!"

"Who's going to make me believe that, coward?"

That did it! I'd had enough of him. I didn't him or the way he treated others or the way he treated Robert. I punched him as hard as I could. Right in the face.

I would've expected him to hit me back.

What I didn't expect is that he'd pull a gun on me.


	14. Chapter 14

Not only did he pull a gun, but two of his other friends did. And they didn't look like they were bluffing. Larry immediately pushed me behind the go-kart, just as the shooting started.

Larry pulled out his HUGE machine gun and started firing back. The noise was filled with gunfire, screaming, shouting, yelling, and threats. Most of the other kid ran into the night. A few others hid behind trees or rocks. Robert and Amanda jumped behind our kart with us.

The shooting went back and forth. The time that passed was agonizing. The shots continued to be fired. It seemed like neither side was gaining an inch. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, their shooting died out.

Larry went to check to see if anyone was still there, with his machine gun ready.

He came back and told us that everyone was gone. Amanda quickly got up and started running for home. Robert started back to the Palace.

Larry and I went the other way and took an alternative route to the Palace to be there before Robert arrived. I had a feeling that our cover had been affected but I wasn't taking any chances. I insisted on being there first.

We managed to get there about 45 seconds before Robert did. The close calls were getting closer every time. I didn't know why, but I had a feeling that Robert had discovered us tonight. I just had a hunch that he knew. But I was still hoping that he wasn't.

Let me tell you something that was one of the worst nights of my life. Not just because of all the chaos in the Upper Woods. I didn't get a wink of sleep. I couldn't sleep, rest easy, or even take a short nap. I didn't even come close to NREM sleep.

So you can imagine that the next morning I woke up grouchier than nine alley cats with a stomachache. My hair was a mess, my clothes were wrinkled, I had bags under my eyes, and I still had my sneakers on.

As I went down to the Breakfast Room, I heard Robert's voice from inside say, "What an idiot! He's been following me all this time."

Well, that did it. If he thought I was an idiot…well…well…fine with me! Nobody was forcing him to respect me! I burst in through the door. I didn't even look at him. And he didn't look at me. The only words we said to each other was "excuse me" when we passed each other. And we said it in that low, angry tone.

I got some toast bread and eggs with orange juice and sat across from him. He was playing with his breakfast. With his finger, not with his fork.

He sighed and stood up. "I'm going to go out. I need fresh air."

Like I said, it was obvious that fury and rage were present so we didn't as much as have any regard to each other. Like we didn't exist to each other. After he left, Larry came in. He seemed to be in a mood also.

When he came back with his breakfast, I finally exploded. "Well…thank you very much!"

He glared at me. "For what?"

"Thank you for making last night a complete disaster, for humiliating me, and for blowing our cover."

His eyes widened as much as two flying saucers. "I turned it into a disaster?!"

"Yes, you did!"

"Oh, yeah? How?!"

"You're my best friend, aren't you?"

"So far, I am!" I didn't like how his tone was growing more threatening.

"You're supposed to help me and aid me when I need it. Where were you when I needed you last night?! Why did you just sit there like stupid rock or a statue? I trusted you!"

"Do you realize what you're saying?!"

"Very, very much! Now I know the kind of friend you are!"

"Well, I guess I now know the kind of friend you are!"

"All right!"

"All right!"

"I don't have to take this! I'm getting out of this pigsty!" I stood up and burst out the door.

"I always thought that it was like that, anyway!" he yelled behind me.

I passed Kathy on the way out. "Good morning, Spiny."

"Oh, shut up!" The only reason that I didn't push her out of the way was that she was a girl. But believe me, if it would've been Rudy, Dimetroodon, or Roger, I would've sent him flying to the next galaxy.

I stomped up to my room and slammed the door behind me so hard that the windows cracked. Believe me, I'm not kidding.

I knew that I'd done wrong in talking to Larry the way I did. And of course, I had no right to yell at Kathy and I should have had the decency to say hi to Robert when I saw him and talk things out.

A short temper is something that I've always struggled with. Even before my parents died, I had serious temper problems. And I still do. I always seem to take things personally. I just hate it when I blow my top. I know I'm hurting myself and others whom I care about.

Well, first I needed to cool off. So first thing I did was go into my room's bathroom, take off my clothes and step under a cool shower and stayed there for a good while. When I got out and dressed, I went downstairs and stepped out the front door.

In June in these parts of Amarkia, most days are in the upper 80s or lower 90s. But in the mornings, it's still nice. I think it was close to nine forty-five. I stretched real good and gave a good yawn.

I walked across the street up the Wood's home. I knocked the door. Mrs. Woods answered. "Hello, Spiny."

"Good morning, Mrs. Woods. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you. And how are you?"

"Well, I'm…actually, that's why I came over. Is Lilia home?"

"Oh, sure she is. Won't you come in?"

I nodded. "Thank you, ma'am." I wiped my shoes and stepped in. "We just had a big breakfast. Would you like some?"

"Oh, no thank you. I'm not that hungry. I didn't get much sleep last night and I barely touched the breakfast I made myself today. You see the girls got up late and I had a huge fight with Robert and Larry. That pretty much took my whole appetite."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, but you need something in your stomach. How about a pancake and some apple juice?"

I do have to admit that the very mention of those words were enough to make my stomach grumble. "I'd love it. Thank you."

"Of course. And Lilia will be right down. Have a seat in the living room."

"Thank you." I stepped into their living room and sat on the loveseat. Never mind why, I just did. I was lost in deep thought when someone nudged me in the shoulder. I turned to see and saw an angel's face. She had silky brown hair and honey-brown eyes. Her smile made me feel better already.

I tried to smile back. "Hey."

"Hey," she said. She kissed my cheek. "How are you?"

"Well, you know. Actually, I've had some, uh, family trouble and I just needed to talk to someone."

"Oh?" She put both her hands on my shoulder and rested her head on them. "What's wrong?"

"Well, it's kind of a delicate matter. I don't know if it's too much to ask, but could we talk somewhere a little bit more…you know?" I didn't want to say private. I had a feeling that it would take the seriousness out of the issue implied.

"Sure. How about my room?"

I'm only flesh and blood, so naturally my heart started hammering away. "Um, in your room? Are you sure your parents wouldn't mind?"

She laughed. "Of course they don't mind. They trust you. They trust you so much. And they trust us if we were alone. And most importantly," she kissed me again, "I trust you. You trust me?"

I smiled and held her hand. "Of course I do."

She nodded. "Come on then." She got up and I followed her upstairs. We stepped into her room. It hadn't changed much since the last time. Well, there were a few books scattered on the floor and a few stuffed animals out of place. There was even one on the ceiling fan blade.

"My younger cousins came to visit a few days ago. I haven't been able to clean," Lilia explained.

"It's okay." Mrs. Woods knocked on the door and have me my pancake and apple juice. After I said thank you she left and of course teased Lilia and me about being behind a closed door alone.

I thought it was good humor but I could tell Lilia didn't enjoy it. "Your mother is really special," I said.

Lilia smiled. "Thanks. You know, she says that sometimes she feels like she feels like you're her son."

I know that she meant that as good. And believe me, I took it as good. But for some reason, I started crying. I guess that I was overwhelmed by the situation at home and that heart-touching comment pretty much did it.

Lilia looked pretty shocked. "Spiny, what's the matter? I'm sorry. I meant it to be good. Honest, I did."

By now the tears were at full swung. In between sniffles and whimpers, I told her that I appreciated the comment but that my family situation was too much. She could see that this was serious.

She took me by the shoulder and we sat side-by-side on her bed. She put her arm around me and told me to tell her everything. I said everything from start to middle to end. Every last detail, no matter how small or insignificant.

By the end of it, in between the two of us, we'd used up two Kleenex boxes. "Oh, Spiny, that's awful!"

I nodded. "I know. Now, I've lost my friendship with Larry and the trust and respect that Robert had for me is now gone. And I've made a fool of myself to others."

"Well, we all make mistakes."

I looked at her through watery vision. "What can I do?"

"Well…I think that first thing you need is to make-up with Larry. Then, you should sit down with Robert and talk things out completely with him."

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. I sorta knew what the solution. But I just had to talk with someone."

She hugged me close, running her hands through my hair. "I know. I know. I'm glad it was me." I can't explain how I felt at that moment. Being in her arms and knowing how much empathy she was showing. Knowing that I had a true friend in her, who trusted me and cared for me deeply, really touched me.

I didn't want our embrace to end. "I love you," I whispered in her ear. I heard her sniffle. Then she said, "I love you, too." We pulled away from each other. I wiped the tears out of my eyes. I put my hand on her cheek. "Thank you for being a friend."

She raised her eyebrow. "Only a friend?"

I smiled at her and kissed her deeply. "I'll think about it."

Afterwards, I got up and said goodbye. I had quite a lot of work to do.

(MEANWHILE. ROBERT LEAVES AND GOES BACK TO THE UPPER WOODS.)

His new leather jacket rustled in the breeze that ran through the trees. His mind was more packed than his closet at the end of summer vacation after all the trips they made. The tracks from last night's race were still relatively fresh.

Out of the shadows, a tall and strongly-built kid about three years older than him appeared. Spiny might have referred to him as Tough Guy. Truth was, Robert didn't know his name. He was interested in knowing in it, either.

"What are you doing in my woods?" he said to Robert in a menacing tone of voice.

"What do you mean, you woods?" Robert answered. He was intimidated, but he knew that he couldn't show it.

"Yeah, so if you want to be around for lunchtime, you better leave and don't crunch any leaves."

Robert crossed his arms. "What if I don't?"

"Then you'll have to face the consequences."

Robert didn't move from where he was standing.

"Pretty stupid stunt your little big brother last night. Winning everything, doing everything…"

"Hey! If he did so, that's because he's good at a lot of things. So leave him alone." Something snapped inside him. It made him punch Tough Guy right in the nose. "Now leave me alone." Robert started running off into the woods.

"You'll be sorry, prince! You just wait and see! You'll pay for this!"

Robert kept running until his legs ached and could run no more. He hadn't noticed the go-kart in front of him. He hadn't remembered seeing it last night. He decided to give it a test run.

He turned on the ignition and started down the hilly terrain. He was in deep thought when the left rear wheel broke off. Robert's heart raced with uncertainty and fear he tried to regain balance.

He tried shifting the weight to the other side and be able to stop or jump out. He was unaware when the go-kart went flying into a ravine and everything became blurry. The go-kart crashed onto the hard ground and erupted in flames, rocking him violently and banging his head into coma.


	15. Chapter 15

(BACK AT THE PALACE.)

Larry and I shook hands. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, shucks, I'm sorry, too," he said.

"You have to understand that I've been taking all this in a pretty negative way."

"Oh, sure. I know that it's not your fault that you're like a childish jerk."

"Larry!"

"Kidding!"

Boy, did I feel better to have my best friend in the world back. Now, I just needed to talk with Robert. I dialed his name on phone and called him. I just needed to have a face-to-face talk with him. _Ring…ring…ring…ring._ Hmm. That was weird. He wasn't answering. After a while his voice mailbox came up. I called again. Same thing. Maybe his phone was turned off. Maybe the battery had died. Maybe he was too busy to answer. But what could he be doing?

"He's not answering."

"That's odd," said Kathy. "He never lets it ring more than four times. He must be busy."

"Maybe. Larry, could you go see if you find him. Go see at _Arnold's_ , or the other place where they were playing cards."

"And the arcade," said Patty.

"All right. I'll go see if I can fetch him."

I decided to sit down in the living room and wait. I watched TV and kept my eye on the clock on the wall. Noon. One o'clock. 2 pm. 3:45. 5:20. I was getting very anxious. Why is Larry talking so long? Where is Robert? Where has he been?

Finally, at 6:15 Larry came bursting in, out of breath. We all ran to him. "Where is he? Did you find him? What took so long?"

"I don't know. No, I didn't. And I've checked all those places you told and and traveled through the entire eastern part of Amarkia. I checked everything with a fine-tooth comb."

"And nothing?" asked Patty.

Larry shook his head. "Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch."

Well, I was now worried and desperate. And desperate times call for desperate measures. I ran to my home office room. I grabbed the desk phone that was on…well, the desk, obviously. "Hello, this is King Spiny. I want three units of Special Police Forces at my front gate in ten minutes. It's urgent. Urgent and important. Yes, I want them fully-armed."

I ran out and went up my room. I removed the dresser and unlocked a special safe box. I grabbed one of the rifles and loaded it. Larry walked in. "What are you doing? Why are you loading your best rifle?"

I turned to look at him. "I'm going to look for my brother."

He stared at the ground for a while. Then he grabbed another gun from inside and loaded it, too. "I'm going with you."

We told the girls that we'd be back and to call us in case Robert showed. I also called our Royal Family Doctor to be on standby, just in case. I hope that we wouldn't need him. I met with the units I'd called up. I got into TIV with Larry and headed northwest towards the Upper Woods. We alerted the police from all the towns up there in case they'd seen anything.

I decided to check the place where the race had taken place. The soil still had track marks. We got out and started surveying the entire area. I was about to climb up a tree, when one of the officials said, "Your Majesty! Come look at this!"

I quickly ran towards the voice that had called me. We all gathered around him. He carefully picked up a freshly broken bottle. I could tell that it hadn't been lying there all night. It takes special training to know it.

"Well, at least that's something. Keep looking in this area."

"Yes, sir."

We all returned to our original places. I was looking behind a boulder when a familiar voice said, "Well, well, well. If it ain't Mr. Winner himself." I looked up to see who had spoken. Tough Guy. The very sight of him sent my entire system into Attack and Kill Mode. I glared at him. "Where is he?"

"You really thought you could away with beating me?"

"Where is he?"

"You were really foolish. But I could sort of tell it by the way Robert. You know what they say: like brother, like brother."

That did it. I punched him in the face. He fell to the ground. I jumped on him and punched several times. I didn't really intend to break his nose or make his mouth bleed. Or give him two black eyes. But the way I was feeling…I didn't give a darn if I broke him into a million pieces.

I kept hitting him until I got tired and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "Where is my brother? Where is he?! Tell me! NOW!"

Okay. Maybe I did beat him up so bad that he couldn't talk. But I couldn't help it. I was furious worried. I mean, Robert wasn't only my brother. He was legally my adoptive son. And believe me, mothers aren't the only ones who will do anything for the sake of their children.

I turned to the officers. "Take him into custody. Have the prison doctor look at him. I want in healthy condition for question. I intend to give him fair trial."

They took him away to the Sauropolis Police Station. The rest of us continued our search. I wasn't going to leave without finding Robert alive and well.

A few minutes later, when I came to a small clearing with four officers flanking me, guess who we found. No, no Robert. Not Amanda. And not Jake Gyllenhaal. We found the rest of Tough Guy's team.

"What are you doing?" I said to them. All the other officers pointed their guns at them.

"Um, nothing…just nothing," said one of them.

"My brother Robert is missing. Where is he?"

"We don't know."

"Oh, you don't, huh?"

Another one of them said, "But we do have information that might help you."

I pointed my rifle at him. "Speak up!"

"Follow us?"

I didn't like how this was turning out. They didn't seem to be armed. I turned to one of the officers. "Frisk them." With his gun still ready, he checked them all completely one by one. All he found were wallets, candy wrappers, and moldy gumballs. Believe me, they were moldy.

"They're clean."

"All right. We'll follow you. But don't try any foolishness. We're right behind you so just take that in mind."

They all turned around and started walking. They walked for about a half hour until they stopped at a cabin. The one in the middle knocked on the door. "Who is it?" said a voice from inside.

"We've got company, if you know what I mean."

"Company, huh? Well, we're not expecting anyone."

Before any of us could do anything, somebody shot through one of the windows. After that it was chaos. The five kids turned against us, pushing our guns down. The air erupted into shooting and punching and kicking. Dust and rocks flew everywhere. I was pinned by two kids. But before they could shoot me on the head, I kicked both in the gut and tried to help the officers who were fighting the kids.

I grabbed the biggest gun there was and yelled, "FREEZE!"

Everyone stopped. "All right. If your friends don't come out of the cabin, I'm going to give orders and we'll blow it up into smithereens! One. Two!" Another shot was fired and I felt a fire on my left wrist. Blood started seeping from it.

I'd been shot. A huge, muscular guy stepped out holding a revolver. "You bring trouble, you get it. It don't matter if you're the dictator, oh, I mean, King."

The pain was getting worse. It was throbbing and I could feel my breath getting heavier. The fire started shooting up my arm and into my shoulder and neck. It was starting to get unbearable.

"Where….is….my….brother?" I said in agony.

He laughed. "Oh, that piece of trash? I wouldn't care at all if he'd been shot and killed by my Tough Guy. Now, if you leave, we'll just forget everything and I promise to stop trying to nuke the Palace."

The anger in me started counteracting the fire from the pain of the bullet. I stood up, and got dizzier than I had ever before. I gripped onto a tree branch nearby. "I am not leaving without my brother. Where is he?!" Yelling made the pain worse. I could feel tears coming out of my eyes.

He shook and his head and chuckled. "You shouldn't have yelled at me." He raised his revolver and pointed it straight at me. He cocked the gun and….POW!

I fell back. Not from the fire he shot. You see, he didn't shoot. But I was so scared that when I heard the shot I fell back as if he had fired. One of the officers was behind me and he put me back on my feet. I looked and saw the guy in front wincing from pain in his leg. The gun was lying on the ground.

I looked to my right. Larry was holding his rifle. "You mess with the King, who is also the best friend I've had and the best family man there is, and you're asking for trouble. You've got twelve hours to come forth and say where Robert is. We'll be monitoring you so that you don't try anything stupid."

Larry and other officers grabbed my arm and helped me walk back to the vehicles. Larry took out the medical kit and started treating my gunshot wound. Thankfully, but painfully, he got the bullet out and wrapped a bandage around my wrist.

I stayed in the car with some guards protecting me while the others searched and searched. I fell asleep, hoping this was all a nightmare and wake up and everything would be like it was before.

I woke up several hours. It was pitch-black. I looked at my watch. It very late. It was almost three in the morning. I was weak and exhausted. I asked to be returned to the Palace. I needed to get a good night sleep.

When I got there, I thought everyone was asleep. I wasn't entirely right. I stepped inside, trying to be as quiet as possible. One of the living room lamps was still on. Kathy was in her pajamas and her pink bathrobe. She was asleep, curled up on the couch. The TV was humming and the screen was blank.

She must've been watching TV, and after she fell asleep, the station went off the air.

I was still hurting quite a lot in my wrist. I tip-toed over to Kathy and leaned down to kiss her on the head. She mumbled and moved a little. "Kathy. Kathy. I'm home." I shook her gently by the shoulder.

Her eyes opened and she sat up. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Oh, hi Spiny. What time is it?"

"It's three am."

"Three am? Why are so late?"

"We'll I was exhausted and feeling down, so I asked them to bring me back while they continued."

She stood up. "Continued?! You mean you haven't found him?"

I shook my head.

She looked down at my wrist. "What happened to you?"

"I was shot."

"Shot?! By a gun? But…who did it? Why? What happened?"

"Look, I'll tell you tomorrow. Right now I need to rest. Did anybody call?"

"No, nobody called." She started to sob. "Oh, Spiny, I'm worried. What if he doesn't show up? What if something's happened?"

I hugged her and let her cry for a while. I caressed her hair and tried calming her. "Shh. Shh. It's okay. We're going to find him. Everything's going to be all right. We'll find him."

"Promise?"

I sighed. "I promise. I promise I'll find him alive."

I only hoped that I would be able to keep this promise. I would never forgive myself if I didn't.

(IN THE RAVINE. 6:00 AM.)

Robert awoke from his coma and felt unbearable pain all over his body. He couldn't feel his right arm or leg. _Why can't I feel them?_ If they were broken, I'd feel it. He tried lifting his head. His dark blonde hair was streaked red with blood. He looked down and saw the whole patch of ground beneath him covered in red. And so was his jacket and pants. Is that all my blood?

He was pinned down by a piece of metal. He felt too weak to get up anyway. He laid his head back on the ground, seeing the whole word spin at a thousand miles per hour. He vomited. He started crying, convinced that help was not near.

(A FEW HOURS LATER.)

Larry was exhausted. He had been searching since last evening. They still hadn't found anything. He was thinking off leaving and searching somewhere else. He ran down a hill and…Oof…ran into a kid.

"What are you doing around these parts?"

"Um…nothing."

"Prince Robert is missing. These people are from the Missing Persons Bureau."

"I know. I heard of it. In that case, I'd like to report a missing go-kart."

An officer with a gun shouted at him, "Listen, son, we have more important things on our mind. We don't have time for trivial things."

Larry's mind clicked. Wait a minute. Missing go-kart? What about those fresh tracks I saw this morning? Hmm. "Do you know where this vehicle of yours is?"

"I followed the tracks. They lead to a ravine. I didn't look down there, though."

Larry turned to the others. "Men! This way! Come on, move!" They marched through the trees. The kid stopped just short of the steep edge of the deep crevasse.

"Give me the binoculars!" said Larry. He started scanning the entire ground below him. "Hey! I see something! There's something red and pink down there!"

"That's my go-kart! That's how it was painted!"

"There someone there! He's got long, blonde hair…leather jacket…skin shoes…"

"Sir!" said a sergeant. "We found pieces of a vehicle. And this." He held up a tire. That's all Larry needed. "Get a helicopter. On the double! And inform the King!"

(ROYAL PALACE. 1:30 PM.)

I was so exhausted that I didn't wake up until early afternoon. My hand still stung, but at least I was all right. I tossed and turned around hoping something. Something would happen. A miracle. I was startled when my phone rang.

"Hello? What?! Where? When? In a ravine?! To the hospital?! Which one? Okay. I'll be there in five minutes!"

I got up and ran out the door. I flew down the stairs and burst through the front doors. I sure made a lot of noise. I revved up TIV and almost crashed through the Palace Gates. The tires screeched as made the turns. I made a record time of getting there.

I jumped out of TIV, flew in the hospital doors, almost without asking where Robert was and ran up the emergency stairs to the third floor. I ran down the hallways and…well, I knocked our doctor down pretty bad.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry."

"No need to." He wiped himself off.

"How is he, doc?"

He sighed and looked at me straight in the eye. My heart started pounding in fear. I could read his face. I knew that it was bad news.


	16. Chapter 16

"He's lost a lot of blood. Actually, he's lost 70% of his blood."

Oh, no!

"He's unconscious right now. As you know, blood transfusions are incredibly risky. They're illegal in Amarkia. So we're using alternative, safer methods to help him recover what he's lost. The surgery will take several hours. Most likely will last deep into the night. Maybe after midnight."

"I'll wait."

"It's going to be a long wait. You'd best go home and…"

"I SAID I'M GOING TO WAIT!"

The entire hallway went as quiet as a cemetery. "All right. We're going to start the operation now."

I went out to the waiting room and sat down. The rest of the family arrived a while later. Then, Rudy, Roger, Darla, Dimetroodon, and Lilia. Then some friends from Robert's class. Yes, even Amanda. Even Tyrone and Kylie stopped by for a while.

When it got dark, everyone except Larry, Kathy and Lilia left. Lilia got permission from her parents to wait the whole night.

I slept with my arm around Lilia and her head on my shoulder. I felt safe with her. She fell asleep too.

Next morning, the doctor woke me up. I stood up, half-asleep. "So?"

"We managed to stop the hemorrhage and the operation was successful." The three of us smiled and sighed of relief.

"He's just got a broken right leg and arm. Broken pretty bad. He'll have to have a cast and wheelchair for quite a spell. And he'll need a lot of iron. Give him a lot of lean meats, beans, lentils, and a lot of water. But otherwise, he's fine."

I sighed. I looked up and silently said, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You can see him, if you want. But only one person."

"Go, Spiny," said Kathy. "We'll wait."

I walked to Robert's room. But just before I walked in, someone put their hand on my shoulder I turned around. It was the doctor. "There's something I wanted to tell you in private."

"What is it?"

"We're going to have to amputate his right leg."

My heart froze and I stopped breathing. "What?"

"It was too damaged. We're going to do it this afternoon, with your consent. Otherwise, the infection could spread and cause serious problems. I didn't want your family to know right away. I couldn't make myself say it."

I closed my eyes and could feel the tears coming. "I'm sorry, sir." After he left, I stood there in shock for a while. I dried my eyes. I wasn't ready to tell Robert. I couldn't let him see me like this.

I started to turn the doorknob…and started walking back to the waiting room. I couldn't bring myself to tell him. I went back to sit down. I tried my best to hold in the tears. I couldn't let Kathy or Lilia know either. I had to be alone. I asked them if they could go down to get some breakfast.

After they left, I let the tears run freely. I buried my face in my hands and let it all out. I couldn't imagine even in my worst nightmare having to tell Robert that he would go on the rest of his life without a leg.

I looked to my side and…AHH! Larry had appeared out of nowhere. "Where'd you come from?"

"Back from dimension traveling. How are things?"

"Robert's right leg was severely damaged. They're going to amputate it today. After the doctor told me, I couldn't bring myself to tell him. I didn't even see him."

"And the girls?"

"Went down to get breakfast. I couldn't tell them either. I just couldn't!"

He looked from side to side. "I'll be right back." He sneaked away beneath the receptionist's desk and creeped down the hallway. He was gone for about an hour. When he returned, he wasn't creeping or sneaking.

"Robert will be fine. He won't need to have his leg cut off."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You think I don't know how to control my Biological Power?"

"What?"

"I used it to cure his leg and arm. He'll stay in one piece."

"Wha…how did you…"

"I knocked the doctor out while I did. He was the only one who knew about it. When he wakes up, he'll think he was drunk and fell asleep. I even put a bottle of alcohol in his hand." He laughed.

"Oh, Larry!"

"And he'll be here in…three…two…one."

The doctor arrived right on cue. "I have splendid news. Your brother will be able to go home tomorrow and will be up and running in about a week or so. He's a brave young man. You may see him now."

"I'll be right there." I turned to Larry. I pulled him and hugged him. "Thank you. Thank you, friend."

He smiled. "Your welcome…friend."

I went back to Robert's room. I stepped in. He had a bandage wrapped around his head, but otherwise seemed fine. He had a tray of leftover food next to him. "Hey," I said to him.

"Hey."

I sat on the bed. "How you feeling?"

"Oh, pretty good. Except for the fact that I just had an operation, I feel great. Two days ago I felt like a million dollars. Now I feel more like $0.99. What did the doctor say? How am I?"

"He said you can go home tomorrow and that you'll be back to normal in about a week."

His face brightened up. "Really? Oh, finally! Some good news."

I nodded.

He looked down. "I, uh…I've been a lot of trouble lately, haven't I?"

"Well….yeah, as a matter of fact. A little more than usual."

He looked up at me. "Spiny."

"Yeah."

He sighed and his voice started to break. "I'm…sorry." He started to cry. He leaned over and I pulled him into a hug. "It's all right. It's all right." I could feel my eyes get watery again. "It's all in the past. I should've treated you better too."

He pulled away and wiped his nose. "How about a fresh start?"

I smiled. "Sounds good to me." I stood up. "You get some rest now, you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

I was about to open the door, but someone walked in. "Amanda?!"

"Spiny?"

"You came to see Robert?"

"Um, yeah. If it's all right." She was wearing a yellow flower dress and she'd even put a light touch of make-up. Robert would be crazy to not want to see her. She was holding a tray covered in aluminum foil.

"Sure. Um, Robert!"

"Yeah?"

"You got company."

Amanda stepped in so that Robert would see her. Robert looked quite shocked. "Amanda?!"

"Hi, Robert. How are you?"

"Um, fine. I think." I could see a smile starting to form on Robert's face. He was clearly happy to see her.

"I made you brownies and brought you some. I made them this morning. They're still warm."

"Oh, thanks."

Amanda stepped forward and pulled up a chair next to the bed. She set the tray on Robert's lap and took off the aluminum foil. I left the room smiling. Yep. Things were definitely changing. But they were changing for the best.

My job was to accept it and adjust to it. And to move on with life.


End file.
